Gainesville City Council approved a decrease in the water rate differential from 2.0 to 1.9 Tuesday evening.
The decision was unanimously approved, which will put the rate change into effect beginning Sept. 1.
“It’s a small change, but it’s a big step,” Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey said.
The 2.0 rate has been in place for a long time, Linda MacGregor, the director at the department of water resources, said.
“The system has become more integrated as its grown, and so we thought this was a good step to take,” she said.
Water rates are in place to cover the city's costs and to be fair and equitable to customer, MacGregor said.
The differential rate is the rate customers pay if they reside outside Gainesville City limits. The charge works as a multiplier where people outside of the city pay the base rate multiplied by the differential rate, she said.
