Rene Marlow used just three units of water over three months, but her Melvindale water bill still came in at nearly $200. The reason: a city-mandated minimum charge that requires residents to pay for at least 10 units of water per billing cycle, whether they use that much or not.
Melvindale requires all residents to pay for a minimum of 10 units of water per billing cycle, according to WXYZ Channel 7. The average minimum water bill runs approximately $180.23 for a three-month billing cycle, the station reports, even for households that use a fraction of that amount. Marlow, who was billed for 10 units despite using only three, put it bluntly: “Something's gotta change. I don't know what people are supposed to do.”
Fellow resident Jacqueline Kennedy has pushed back too, telling the station she opposed paying a roughly $200 water bill for water she never used. “It's not right,” Kennedy said. Marlow described the consequences awaiting those who can't pay: a cycle involving water shutoff and possible house condemnation.
A Bond That's Already Paid Off
The 10-unit minimum traces back to 2022, when the Melvindale City Council approved an increase in water and operating rates and set the minimum to help cover a bond, per the same WXYZ report. But that bond was paid off in November 2022 — and residents are now questioning why the minimum charge remains nearly four years later. The station notes Melvindale's water fund contains a large sum of money, fueling resident suspicion that the minimum billing floor has outlived its original purpose.
Mayor Nicole Shkira has sided with residents on the issue. Shkira opposes maintaining excessive water charges to build cash flow when the funds are used for purposes unrelated to operating, maintaining, or improving the water system, the report states. She disagrees with the city council majority's decision not to reduce the minimum requirement or offer residents relief, and says she will continue advocating for Melvindale residents and a fair review of water rates and the mandated 10-unit minimum. The council majority, however, has not supported reducing the requirement or providing a break, according to the same account.
Why the Minimum Exists in the First Place
City officials have previously defended minimum billing systems like Melvindale's as necessary to fund aging infrastructure. In a December 2023 report from the State of Michigan, city officials stated that Melvindale's minimum billing system was originally established to fund a 25-mile water distribution network that is nearly 80 years old and prone to frequent, severe main breaks. That vulnerability was on display in January, when a major water main break at Robert and South Dearborn Streets flooded local streets with ice and sludge and forced residents indoors, as ClickOnDetroit reported at the time.
By late 2023, Melvindale had secured roughly $16 million in state and federal grant funding and loan forgiveness to support water main replacements and replace over 600 residential lead service lines, according to the Downriver Sunday Times. Michigan's 2018 Revised Lead and Copper Rule requires municipal water suppliers to replace all lead service lines within 20 years, a mandate the Michigan Municipal League says contributes to an estimated statewide drinking water funding gap of $800 million annually.
Rate Hikes Keep Coming
Even as residents fight the minimum charge, their bills keep climbing. The Melvindale City Council voted 3-1 in June to approve a 5.62% increase in water rates and a 4.46% increase in sewer rates for the fiscal year that began July 1, following a 6.14% water rate hike in 2025 and a 3.05% hike in 2024, according to city council meeting minutes. Those local increases stack on top of wholesale cost pressure from the region: the Great Lakes Water Authority board approved an average 5.8% wholesale water rate increase and a 4.26% sewer rate increase across Metro Detroit for the coming fiscal year, Planet Detroit reported in February. GLWA, which supplies wholesale water to 40% of Michigan's population, ended a decade-long 4% annual cap on rate hikes last year.
Melvindale isn't alone in facing this squeeze. Neighboring Lincoln Park voted last month to raise water and sewer rates by up to 28%, citing aging pipes that leak away roughly 40% of the city's purchased water supply, as previously reported on Hoodline. Downriver municipal leaders have discussed forming a regional coalition to lobby state lawmakers for wholesale rate caps, underscoring that the pressure on local water budgets extends well beyond Melvindale's borders.
A Legal Question Looms
Underlying the resident complaints is a decades-old state precedent. Under the Michigan Supreme Court's 1998 ruling in Bolt v. City of Lansing, municipal utility charges cannot serve revenue-raising general city purposes without voter approval, since fees exceeding actual service costs can be classified as illegal taxes under the Headlee Amendment, according to Justia Law. That precedent established that valid user fees must serve a regulatory purpose and remain proportionate to service costs — a standard residents argue Melvindale's water fund surplus may not meet.
Melvindale's median household income sits at $42,185 with a poverty rate of 39.1%, according to 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data — roughly half the national average and far below Michigan's statewide median. For residents like Marlow and Kennedy, that gap makes flat quarterly bills near $180 especially punishing, and it's part of why they want the city council to act, and act soon.
The dispute also arrives amid broader turmoil at Melvindale City Hall. Local reporting in February revealed heightened administrative deadlock, including the cancellation of the city's liability insurance policy following disputes between Shkira and the council majority, according to a Local 4 report. That friction has so far left the minimum water charge unresolved, with the mayor and council majority publicly at odds over whether relief is coming at all.
