FAIRMONT - Nothing comes without a price, including Fairmont's proposed $31 million water plant set for construction in 2011.

The Public Utility Commission will decide Nov. 24 on a 25 percent rate increase for water. Assuming the commission recommends the increase, the vote will come before the City Council on Jan. 25, according to Paul Hoye, the city's financial director. A public hearing will be held at a prior date.

Hoye presented the proposed rate increase to the commission this week. The majority of the extra revenue will pay for the water plant, which will cost about $1.5 million a year.

"That's 75 percent of what our revenue is, so when you look at 25 percent over the next three years, that's just to cover the debt service."

Assuming the council gives the OK, the rate increase will go into effect Jan. 1, with customers seeing the impact of the increase on their February bill.

"Obviously, we're worried about having to raise the rates 25 percent," Hoye said. We're always looking for other funding options to help with that, but right now we're running into some hurdles."

With a population below 10,000, Fairmont doesn't qualify for any of the financial assistance city staff is aware of.

"We're pretty much forced into doing something at the water plant," Hoye said. "Unfortunately, the only revenue source we have right now is through user fees."

A facility study completed earlier this year showed the condition of the 80-year-old plant isn't beyond renovation - to the tune of $26 million - but it wouldn't be a wise move in the long run either, the commission decided.

"The only recommendation they had was to build," Hoye said.

The city recently declared Budd School is the preferred location for the new plant, across the street from the existing facility. That looks unlikely, however, since the city gave the school until May to make a decision, and a referendum to pay for moving the young elementary students couldn't be put to the voters until mid-May.