GARDEN CITY, Mich. – A lot of people living in Garden City have come forward with concerns about their water bills, some saying they’ve never seen them this high in decades.
Longtime resident Jeanine Berry told us it’s getting harder and harder to keep up as prices rise, even though, for now, she said she’s managing financially.
“You know it’s scary. It’s scary,” said Berry.
Another homeowner, Brian Olszewski, said his bill has jumped by nearly $100.
He runs a carpet cleaning business and fills his tank at home, so he expected higher usage — but not like this.
“Sometimes I get nervous when I open that mailbox, and I see that the bill,” said Olszewski.
We went to City Hall looking for answers.
No one was available to speak on camera, but city manager Tim Gibbons released the following statement:
“From 2017 through 2025, Garden City’s water system did not raise water rates enough to keep pace with rising costs or even inflation, with average annual increases of less than 2%.
During that same period, the City spent roughly $9.1 million from the Water Fund reserve on capital projects, equipment, vehicles, water meters, and rising operating costs, while the water system’s annual expenses, including the purchase of water from GLWA, grew to about $12 million against only approximately $9 million in user-charge revenue.
By June 2024, the reserve fund had been exhausted, leaving the system unable to absorb the gap between revenues and costs.
I was not the City Manager during this time and therefore cannot speak to the rationale for why rates were not increased more consistently or why this level of capital spending was undertaken.
However, I can say that water rates were effectively kept artificially low for years by drawing down the large reserve balance inherited by the previous city administration in 2018, which is why a significant one-time rate adjustment later became necessary.
It is our goal going forward to do everything possible to avoid rate spikes like this in the future.
Unfortunately, the city was not in a position to avoid such a spike in this budget year, given how significantly operating costs had risen and that the reserve fund had been depleted.”
City Manager Tim Gibbons
According to the city’s website, current rates show water at close to seven dollars per unit and sewer at close to $8 per unit.
Olszewski said he knows costs are rising and he’s trying to roll with the punches, but he feels it’s getting “a little ridiculous.”