Thursday, April 14, 2011 – John Patti and The Associated Press

Baltimore’s spending board members have voted to have a May 18 hearing on increasing the city’s water and sewer rates by 9 percent.

The Board of Estimates says an average family of four would pay about $88 more per year with the increases. Residents of Anne Arundel, Howard and Carroll counties also face a 9 percent increase in water rates under a board proposal.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says the city has to make sure it can pay for infrastructure improvements.

Department of Public Works director Col. Alfred H. Foxx says the city has been ordered by the federal government to make repairs to its sewer lines to prevent overflows. The government also has mandated that the city prevent contamination of reservoirs by covering them.