St. Louis residents could soon face a major increase in their water bills as some city leaders advance a plan they say is necessary to keep the municipally owned system financially afloat.

The proposal would raise rates by about 90% over the next six years — a steep jump for households, but one some officials argue is needed to keep safe drinking water flowing.

St. Louis Public Radio reported that 9th Ward Alderman Michael Browning introduced the water-rate package on May 21, and it is now moving through the Board of Aldermen to Mayor Cara Spencer's desk.

If the bill passes in its current form, bills would go up 18% on July 1 and then rise another 18% on Jan. 1, 2027.

Later increases would be 6% in 2028, 2029, and 2030, followed by 5% in 2031 and 2032, with an annual inflation adjustment.

By 2032, the typical city resident would pay roughly $29 more each month, according to STLPR.

"This is a generational investment to make sure that we're saving our municipally owned water system," Browning said at a recent board meeting. "We're in a situation where our rates have not been keeping up with the cost of delivering safe, clean drinking water, much less the maintenance of our infrastructure that is aging and reaching a breaking point."

City officials said the problem has been building for years.

Public Utilities Director Niraj Patel told elected officials that seven years of deficit spending exhausted reserves and left the department short on money for basics, including chemicals and power for treatment and pumping operations.

The utility also faces roughly $700 million in structural improvements.

The measure will go to the Public Utilities and Infrastructure Committee for a public hearing and will need two votes from the Board of Aldermen before it goes to the mayor for consideration.

Under the proposal, the city's hospitals, zoo, and art museum would lose discounted rates.

"This will significantly impact our budget, as it wasn't something we were planning for," zoo spokesperson Billy Brennan told STLPR. "We will have to pivot."

Meanwhile, the legislation includes several measures intended to soften some impacts.

For the first time, the city would create an "affordability rate" for lower-income residents. However, the legislation does not yet specify exact eligibility requirements.

Patel said those standards would be based on income, participation in other utility-aid programs, or damage from a disaster such as the May 2025 tornado.

The proposal would also allow St. Louis to seek higher rates from large new customers, such as data centers.

"If we had a big user like a data center, that would actually be very, very helpful in taking on some of the cost of these infrastructure needs that our water department has," Spencer said at the meeting, according to STLPR.

A $3 billion data center project received unanimous approval from the board last month amid community protests. Protests against a $6 billion data center project in Festus, Missouri, grabbed national headlines around that same time and were followed by lost reelections for four of the city council members who voted for the project.

In St. Louis, the upcoming public hearing with the Public Utilities and Infrastructure Committee will give customers a chance to ask how the affordability rate would work, how quickly aid could be made available, and how the city intends to balance urgent repairs with household cost concerns.

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