The Albert Lea City Council approved a 7 percent increase in the city’s water rates for 2015 during its meeting last Monday.

The increase was 2 percentage points less than an initial proposed 9 percent increase recommended by the city’s water rate study.

It equates to an about $1.10 monthly increase for average residential users, said Albert Lea City Manager Chad Adams. The average increase in commercial users will vary depending on usage, he said.

Adams said the rates increased 9 percent each of the last two years and had been recommended to do the same in 2015 because of ongoing maintenance of water lines and construction projects. He said previously the water fund balance is low, and there are many water needs in the city, including new or updated water towers and water lines that need to be replaced.

“The longer we wait to replace infrastructure, the likelier there is to be more infrastructure costs,” he said.

He said the 7 percent increase, as opposed to the 9 percent recommended in the study, might open the window in the future for the city to bond for water projects or conduct inter-fund loans.

The councilors voted no change in the sewer rates for 2015.

During the Monday meeting, the council also approved a letter of support for inter-city passenger rail between the Twin Cities and Des Moines.

The letter asks the Minnesota Department of Transportation to make this stretch of rail line a priority in the next transportation plan in 2015.