Belmont is turning up the tap on water bills, rolling out an 8% rate hike this week as part of a push to get the city’s water and sewer system off the state’s “distressed” list. City officials say the added revenue, combined with state funding and new emergency connections to neighboring systems, will bankroll urgent fixes and key projects they say are needed to keep water flowing for a growing community. Once that work is underway, leaders plan to ask state regulators to remove Belmont from the troubled-utility roster.
City manager: loan and intake move will shore up supply
The City Council signed off on the 8% increase last week, a move City Manager Miles Braswell said was all but unavoidable after the state’s designation, according to WSOC-TV. City leaders say they have locked in a $10 million low-interest state loan to push the city’s raw-water intake farther out into the Catawba River, a shift they say should reduce sediment issues. They have also built emergency interconnects with Gastonia and Mount Holly. Officials told the station they now expect to look at possible increases every year and will ask to be removed from the distressed list once those improvements are clearly underway.
How the state classifies Belmont
Belmont has carried the “distressed” label since 2021, a status tied to finances and capacity that can restrict how utilities plan for and pay for future growth, according to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. The state’s November 2025 distressed-designations spreadsheet lists Belmont alongside other local systems such as McAdenville and East Spencer, and it flags several utilities across the region as eligible for state funding help.
What it means for bills and permits
City officials had put off higher rates for years, but a rate study adopted by the council in 2024 set up a roadmap for phased hikes and longer-term utility planning. The city’s 2025 water and sewer rate materials spell out how the utility fund is expected to cover capital projects and debt service. That framework is what officials say they will lean on while state money and the new loan are put to work, according to the City of Belmont.
What residents can expect
For most households, the 8% jump will mean a relatively small bump in the monthly bill, though leaders are already warning that more frequent adjustments could be on the horizon if big-ticket projects outstrip revenue. In the near term, city officials say the intake relocation and system upgrades should lower the risk of outages. Over time, they say that progress could also give the state enough confidence to ease some development restrictions in Belmont’s south end once regulators are satisfied with the city’s improvements.
