ST. LOUIS • The Board of Aldermen is expected to approve today a 12 percent increase in water rates, bumping the cost to an average homeowner by $2.67 a month, or $32 a year.

The increase, affecting both commercial and residential users, could take effect as early as July 2.

It would be the third increase in three years, and a 50 percent hike since 2004.

The city's water division said a rise in expenses by nearly $10 million over the last five years, to an estimated $47 million this year, is the main problem.

Jim Kummer, fiscal manager for the water division, blamed the increasing cost of water treatment chemicals, piping and personnel costs.

At the same time, the city is selling millions fewer gallons of water every year. Some companies, like Anheuser-Busch/InBev, have worked to cut water usage, while others have closed or moved out.

Kummer said the division has reduced overtime, instituted employee furloughs and used up existing material stocks instead of buying new.

"We have worked extremely hard this year to keep expenses down," he said.

But, he noted, water is still cheaper in the city than the county. There, Missouri American Water Co. just raised rates by 15 percent, or about $4 per month, to an average-household annual rate of about $344 a year.

An average homeowner in the city would pay $292 a year after the increase.

Alderman Matt Villa, chairman of the board's Public Utilities Committee and representative of the Carondelet and Holly Hills neighborhoods, said he recognizes this is a tough time to ask residents for more money, especially considering the board is planning to charge $11 a month for trash and recycling pickup.

"We're asking people to pay for trash, and now we're going to increase their water rate," he said.