Higher water, sewer rates could come to some St. Tammany Parish customers in 2026

With millions of dollars in water and sewer infrastructure improvements in the works, St. Tammany Parish's Department of Utilities will now ask its thousands of water and sewer customers to pay higher rates in the new year.

The over $80 million in infrastructure improvements are thanks to grants the parish received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and Louisiana's Water Sector Program. The federal funds have already paid for new water towers and water mains, generators and a new remote monitoring system in eastern St. Tammany.

But as part of the agreement with the Water Sector Program, the parish had to study its rates to make sure they are sufficient to maintain the infrastructure going forward, parish Utilities Director Christopher Tissue said at a Parish Council meeting Wedne