You may have noticed your sewer use fees went up in Bloomington-Normal this year. They rose 15%. Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District Director Tim Ervin said that’s about $2 per month for the average homeowner. And there will be several more years of double-digit increases.

Over the next several decades the fees will help pay for $300 million in improvements to the sewage treatment system in the Twin Cities. The state and federal governments are loaning residents the money up front.