The Indianola City Council approved a change in the Natural Gas Franchise fees at their most recent meeting, raising the fee from 3% to 5%. City Manager Ryan Waller tells KNIA News the city historically funded the repaving of streets through assessments, which was costly to residents. Then in 2012, the then city council changed that policy to fund the repaving of streets through the Natural Gas Franchise fee, which is a fee utility companies pay to operate in the city right-of-way. Waller said IMU pays a 5% franchise fee rate, while Mid-American paid a 3% rate.

“It is a small amount, in the average home the 2% difference will equate to around $10 a year on the gas bill. The other thing that this does is it brings fairness to residents who pay for heating through their electric, because IMU is already paying that 5%. So this brings it to be equal for all residents, and the money will be used for road repairs.”

The effective date the franchise fee is placed into effect will be November 1st.