Customer Rates for 2023

New rates went into effect on January 1, 2023.

The LCA Board of Directors adopted 2023 rates on Nov. 14, 2022.

Learn more about rates for 2023 by reviewing the documents and specific service division information below.

Understanding 2023 Rates

City of Allentown Division

The City of Allentown Division rates will increase in 2023, depending on customer usage and meter size. City rates are developed by a formula included in the Lease Agreement. Specific details regarding rate changes are available here: City Rate Details

What does it mean? Below is a billing sample for a typical residential customer with a 5/8″ meter using 15,000 gallons of water. The total customer impact in this example is $19.55 per quarter, which breaks down to $6.52 per month.

Suburban Division

A study of Suburban Division water rates was presented to our Board on October 24, 2022. Fixed charges for water remain the same. Volumetric charges will increase between 2-6% depending on customer water usage (2022 volumetric rate: $3.26/1,000 gallons; 2023 rate: $3.58/1,000 gallons).

There will be no change to LCA Suburban Division wastewater rates. *Check with your municipality on sewer rates for 2023.

What does it mean? Below is a water billing sample for a typical residential customer with a 5/8″ meter using 15,000 gallons of water. The total customer impact in this example is $4.80 per quarter.

Important Facts About Rates

Lehigh County Authority (LCA) is a non‐profit, municipal authority. All revenues collected through our water and sewer rates are used for the sole benefit of the system to pay for current expenses or to fund future capital improvements. Our Board of Directors are unpaid volunteers, and LCA has no shareholders to pay.

While LCA operates as a single organization, the water and sewer revenues collected from our customers in Suburban communities may not and will not be used to pay for expenses associated with the Allentown Division Lease Agreement. Likewise, revenues from our customers in Allentown may not and will not be used to pay for expenses associated with our Suburban Division water or sewer operations. This is specified in all LCA bond documents that prohibit the mixing of revenues.

Our nation’s water and wastewater systems face staggering public investment needs over the next several decades. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2020 economic study, “The Economic Benefits of Investing in Water Infrastructure: How a Failure to Act Would Affect the U.S. Economic Recovery” found that the annual drinking water and wastewater investment gap will grow to $434 billion by 2029. In LCA’s service area, we expect our local need to be well in excess of $200 million over the next 10 years. As a utility and a community, we must be prepared for continued increases to our water and sewer rates to meet these system needs.

The LCA capital plans for 2023 include a substantial increase in spending on necessary plant, infrastructure, and system improvement projects. The 2023 budget includes an increase in overall operating costs.

Our mission is to protect public health and the environment by providing high-quality, safe, and reliable water and wastewater services. We take pride in our daily work to maintain and manage the plants, pipes, and systems to deliver these services to you! Responsibly managing expenses and finances to do this important work is just as important to us!

We do not raise rates because we want to. We increase rates because the responsibility to protect the public’s health and our environment is critically important.