COUNTY INCREASE OF WATER RATES

1. Brunswick County is proposing to increase the rate the Town of Shallotte purchases water from $2.89 per
thousand to $5.25 per 1000 gallons—an 81% increase.
2. Any new water rate increase will be adopted in the County’s June budget and effective in January 2022.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SHALLOTTE WATER USERS?

1. Shallotte bills water bi-monthly and has a rate system tiered by usage.
2. Every user will see a significant increase in their water bills.
3. For a user who uses less than 6000 gallons the user will see an increase of his bi-monthly bill from $35.98 to
$50.14.
4. For a user of 10,000 gallons the bi-monthly bill will increase from $57.30 to $80.90.
5. For a user of 15,000 gallons of water the bi-monthly bill would increase from $88.74 to $124.15.
6. Shallotte businesses will be significantly impacted. For example, one Shallotte restaurant will see its water bill
increase by over $2000 a year.

WHY ARE WATER RATES INCREASING?

1. The County is building a reverse osmosis plant and expanding its treatment plant. To fund these capital
improvements the County has issued approximately $155 million in bonds . In addition, the County has lost a large
industrial user as well as customers to H2GO.

WHAT HAS SHALLOTTE DONE ABOUT THIS INCREASE?

1. The Town of Shallotte has asked the Brunswick County Commissioners to look at ways to mitigate this increase.
These include increasing the capital recovery fee (paid by new construction), considering phasing the increase in
over at least a two-year period, adopting an anticipated growth rate that reflects current economic conditions,
and use of some of the $28 million the County will receive from the Federal government over the next two years.
2. Shallotte has joined with the other municipalities in expressing their concerns to County Commissioners.
3. For this upcoming budget year, Shallotte will limit capital expenditures needed to maintain the Shallotte
distribution system in order to limit any additional increases to the water rate.

WHAT CAN I DO?

1. Contact the Brunswick County Commissioners or County Manager. Set forth below are their contact
information

commissioner.forte@brunswickcountync.gov

commissioner.williams@brunswickcountync.gov

commissioner.thompson@brunswickcountync.gov

commissioner.sykes@brunswickcountync.gov

commissioner.cooke@brunswickcountync.gov

randell.woodruff@brunswickcountync.gov