Demorest Chooses Water-Rate Method but Leaves 2026 Bills Unclear

Demorest City Council unanimously adopted a cost-of-service allocation structure for 2026 water rates on Jan. 6, choosing what its minutes call “Alternative 2” after delaying the question in December. The 4-0 vote settled the method the city will use to assign water-system costs, but the minutes do not identify individual charges, customer tiers or an effective billing date.

That gap leaves the practical consequence for households and businesses unresolved. Water service is a recurring expense, and a cost-of-service approach may allocate costs differently depending on customer class or water use. Without a published rate schedule, residents cannot determine whether their own bills would rise, fall or remain unchanged, or which customers and usage levels the new structure would cover.

The issue reached council in December, when the Dec. 2 agenda called for consideration of 2026 water rates. Instead of adopting rates then, council voted 4-0 to table the item for further review. When the matter returned Jan. 6, council approved Alternative 2 by the same unanimous margin, moving the city from a paused rate decision to an adopted allocation framework.

The documented position of the four voting council members was unanimous support for Alternative 2 on Jan. 6. The January minutes describe that choice as a cost-of-service allocation rate structure, rather than spelling out competing rate plans or their effects on particular customers. Habersham News later reported that council was scheduled to consider an amended water-and-sewer fee structure on second reading May 5, indicating the fee details remained an active municipal matter; the report did not identify a final council action.

Alternative 2 is an adopted council framework, not simply a pending proposal. But the Jan. 6 minutes do not establish that Demorest began billing under it, changed customer bills, or completed the additional action needed to put specific rates into effect. Habersham News’ account of a planned May 5 second reading is reporting about a scheduled meeting, not confirmation of what the council ultimately approved, rejected or amended.

The next consequential public step would be a council action or official rate schedule that states the water and sewer charges, customer categories, usage tiers and effective date. Until that appears, it remains undecided in the public record whether another vote is required and what the January framework will mean for any particular Demorest customer’s bill.