Higher water bills sinking in for Winnipeg homeowners

The City of Winnipeg has upped its rates for water and sewer services and people are seeing the jump in their bills. CTV's Jeff Keele reports.
Bernie Lemanski rarely waters his grass, and when he does, there's not much of a yard anyway.
He lives with his brother and their water usage is low.
'The only thing you do is the dishwasher, washer and dryer and a shower,' said Lemanski.
So it was sticker shock when he opened his quarterly water bill from the City of Winnipeg.
'I was just flabbergasted, in shock, like I couldn't believe it,' he said.
Last quarter he paid $157 dollars and this quarter the bill is $269 dollars.
'Give me a break,' said Lemanski. 'What are they thinking?'
Other homeowners are flooding Facebook with comments too, many asking the same question as Lemanski.
'I'd like to know why, why they increased it that high,' he said.
Winnipeg's water and waste committee chair Ross Eadie says some people missed the discussion and debate around this issue at City Hall this year.
'It is catching people off guard,' said Eadie.
In March, city council approved new sewer and water rate hikes to help fund the $3 billion north sewage treatment plant.
There is also a new levy.
A $23 per quarter fee was eliminated, but replaced with a higher $63 per quarter waste management fee, to pay for services like garbage, recycling, green carts, yard waste and damaged carts. It's a new utility model to take the heat off property tax bills.
'For the waste management we looked at here's what the cost is, we have contractors who pick up and collect your garbage and there's all kinds of costs related to it,' said Eadie.
Things could have been worse. The mayor and council rejected a proposal to jack water and sewer rates by a $1,000 a year for a family of four.
Still, Lemanski says the approved rates and fees are tough to swallow.
'A lot of single parents and they're on their own and they're living on a fixed income and they can't afford this kind of increase.'

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