Seneca approves $48.3 million utility budget after dropping proposed $15 water-fee increase

Seneca City Council approved an approximately $48.3 million Light and Water Services budget on July 7, replacing a proposed flat $15 increase to the basic water-service charge with a cost-of-service formula.

The decision sets the city’s utility spending and rate structure for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027. The action followed an earlier proposal that required revision before the council approved the budget. The decision was reported July 8.

What changed for water customers

Under the approved approach, Seneca will not apply the proposed flat $15 increase to the basic water-service charge. Instead, the city will use a cost-of-service formula to set charges.

That change does not mean every utility bill will remain unchanged or fall. The available reporting does not provide a customer-by-customer estimate under the final formula, nor does it specify the exact effective date or percentage for every Seneca rate class.

City administrator Scott Moulder said Santee Cooper had notified Seneca of a 3.7% increase scheduled for February. That supplier increase may affect the city’s utility costs, but the available sources do not establish that the full 3.7% will be passed directly to every customer’s bill.

Budget covers city utility operations

Seneca’s official FY2026 budget document shows that the city’s utility budgeting includes water, sewer and electric operations. It also lists budget lines covering street lighting and system improvements, along with multiple capital and system projects.

The approved budget therefore governs more than the basic water charge. It provides the spending framework for the city’s utility services through June 30, 2027, while the adopted rate formula will determine how costs are allocated among service users.

That structure matters to Seneca households, businesses and other utility customers because the council dropped one specific proposed charge but did not freeze all utility rates. Future bills can still vary by service and rate class as the formula is applied and supplier costs change.

Next dates for the utility plan

The next date identified in the approved information is February, when the Santee Cooper increase is scheduled. The current utility budget remains in effect through June 30, 2027.

Seneca City Council holds regular monthly meetings on the second Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 221 E. North 1st Street. Those meetings provide the city’s regular public setting for future council action related to utility operations or rates.