CANTON, Miss. (WJTV) – Canton Municipal Utilities (CMU) customers are speaking out after a big increase in their utility bills.

Board members met during an executive session on August 12 to discuss the issue. Last week, residents told WJTV 12 News that their water and sewer rates have increased by hundreds of dollars. Most cannot afford to make monthly payments.

CMU released a flyer earlier this year stating that the increase would be due to system updates in order to improve the water system and to meet the true costs of providing service.

Howard Young, the general manager of CMU, said the board will waive all late fees for August.

“When we talk about those percentages, it’s per utility. You know, each utility has a certain percentage, and you can’t calculate the entire bill and look at it as a whole. You have to go by the each line item, which is each utilities water, water and sewer. And then also like you said earlier, we talked about the macro charge. It is on there, too. Now what people need to realize is when we did the actual increase, that portion does not come from CMU. That portion comes from Madison County Wastewater Authority. They set their rate before we set our rate,” he said.

Young encouraged residents to visit CMU and speak with representatives if they have questions about their bills.