(The Center Square) — The Bossier City Council is set to revisit sanitation rates after a discussion in late May left apartment complex owners outraged.
The Bossier City Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the sanitation rates and the potential amendment.
After an ordinance was passed in December to increase sanitation rates for the year, multi-family residential property owners saw a substantial spike in their monthly and annual expenses. After bringing their concerns to the May council meeting, Bossier officials will discuss the rates again with a proposed amendment.
Councilman Craton Cochran sponsored an ordinance potentially amending Ordinance No. 2 of 2025 concerning sanitation rates.
“Amendments to Ordinance No. 2 of 2025 need to be made to address a unique problem with certain residential facilities that have one master water meter rather than individual meters and which include the cost of utilities in the cost of rent pursuant to a rental contract or other agreement,” reads the potential ordinance.
If passed, the amendment will add a paragraph to adjust for the items found during review. For each residential apartment complex or residential facility with a master meter, the charge is calculated at $12 monthly multiplied by 80% of the total number of residential units, regardless of occupancy.
The effective date listed is Feb. 1, 2026, so complexes have time to adjust leases and agreements. While the new addition, if passed, won’t immediately go into effect, the amendment will take effect Sept. 1.
Service charges were said not to be enough to cover various costs of sanitation services, resulting in increasing rates.
Many complex owners spoke to the council expressing their frustration.
“When we received our water bills in February, we were absolutely shocked to see that our sanitation rate went from $48 per month to $6,744 per month for all four of our properties,” said Ty Alley with Landmark Realty in May.
Others felt the council was “ill-informed” on how significant the increase was.
Dusty Williams, a Bossier complex owner, said that 25% of his properties are Section 8 voucher families, and the increase cannot be added to these families because the voucher is maxed out. The new rates took Williams’s expenses to $3,648 per month, roughly $43,000 a year, for his 304 residential properties.
After hearing from each complex owner, the council agreed to meet again.
