Ann Arbor council OKs two rounds of water rate increases in 8-3 vote
Updated Dec 22, 2020;
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ANN ARBOR, MI Ann Arbor water rates will go up 7% on Jan. 1 and another 6.5% next July.
City Council voted 8-3 to approve the increases for 2021 after nearly an hour of debate Monday night, Dec. 21.
The three opposed were Jeff Hayner, Elizabeth Nelson and Ali Ramlawi.
Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, said it’s a scary time for residents who are facing financial troubles amid the COVID-19 pandemic and he didn’t want to hit them with two rate increases in one vote.
He proposed delaying voting on the July increase until next spring, but council rejected that idea in a 7-4 vote, after which Ramlawi suggested his colleagues were out of touch with working-class residents struggling to make ends meet.