Richmond residents will see a slight change to their monthly utility bills following the city council’s approval of a wastewater rate increase during a recent meeting. The adjustment marks the first usage rate change since 2007 and is intended to keep the system financially stable while meeting rising operational costs. “Over the past several years, the City of Richmond has been reviewing our wastewater rates to ensure they are sufficient to maintain the system and keep up with increasing operating costs,” explained City Administrator Tonya Willim. “The last time wastewater usage rates were increased was in 2007 and since then, the cost of utilities, equipment and insurance have continued to rise.” The wastewater rate is made up of two parts, a base charge and a usage charge. The base charge is $20.09 per month and is used to pay the debt service on the bonds that financed the construction of the wastewater treatment plant. That payment requires about $580,000 per year. The usage…