Water and sanitary rates for thousands of customers of the Williamsport Municipal Water and Sanitary Authority will go up in January, officials said Wednesday.

In separate votes Wednesday, the 10-member authority adopted its 2020 budgets.

The increases amount to 3 percent for water and 4 percent for sanitary. The average users of 42,000 gallons of water per year will see a combined rate increase of about $30 a year. For water use, it would be about $8 and $21 for sanitary, according to John Baker, authority director of finance.

The annual debt service is increasing from $6.4 million to $7.5 million in 2024, he said.

Besides the $550,000 repair of the sinkhole and combined stormwater and sanitary line break at Campbell and West Third streets, the city public works and authority have identified more than six sinkhole issues throughout the customer area, said Steven W. Cappelli, water authority chairman.

Engineers at the meeting estimated some of the sinkholes are not too significant, but must be addressed. It is caused by a combination of antiquated discharge lines and existing street and gas line repairs done this summer, according to the engineers.

Some of these brick lines have been identified. There may be 4,300 linear feet of them, estimates Eric Smithgall, authority engineer.

The recent bouts of rainfall and the age of the lines along with existing work throughout the city may be to blame, said Adam Winder, general manager of the city public works department.

He noted much of the damage is to the stormwater pipes. Some of it is emergency repairs and others are popping up because some of the lines are over a century old, he said.

Additionally, the authority is committing to more than $9.2 million in capital spending over the next four years. Much of this has to do with distribution system upgrades. The work includes projects on West Fourth, West Third and Franklin streets.

Much of it will be in conjunction with state Department of Transportation contract projects.

Also, some reservoir and dam maintenance is needed in coming years, Baker noted.

Funding for the projects comes from water consumption, board restricted cash balances and potential federal grants.

Any savings should be immediately put aside for capital improvement and emergencies such as what happened at Campbell Street, said Thomas Marnon, authority member.

Expect another $8.8 million in capital improvements for sanitary collection systems over the next four years, Baker said.

The rate increases go into effect Jan. 1.