Springfield water bills are likely to go up – maybe not this year, but soon, chief utility engineer Doug Brown told aldermen during budget hearings Wednesday.

“It’s just another challenging year,” said Brown, “with expenses rising and large infrastructure projects coming.

“We’re going to use $710,000 in cash. We’re going to end with $1.6 million worth of cash – thirty days in cash – well below the sixty-day threshold that rating agencies look at. The water fund – this is a common theme – is not in good shape, but it’s balanced.”

Good news came from the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, boasting hotel revenue of $72 million. The bureau’s director, Scott Dahl, says the increase in the state government rate is one reason why.

“It was increased right before the pandemic, so we really never realized that increase for ’20 and ’21,” Dahl told aldermen. “We saw that come back last year, and that is one of the reasons we were up in hotel revenue. Our average daily rate increased to the mid nineties, a record average daily rate for the city of Springfield.”

Aldermen hear police and fire budgets tonight.