EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – City water rates fall, but trash rates rise. On Sept. 20, the City Council approved decreases in water rates, effective Jan. 1. City Manager Molly McGovern said changes involve a $1.62 base rate reduction and a 19- cent reduction per 1,000 gallons used. In a Sept. 15 memo, McGovern told city leaders the new base rate will be $17 and the per-1,000-gallons rate will be $7.30. “That will accomplish a 5% reduction in revenue for the 2022 fiscal period,” she told city leaders. Effective Oct. 1, the trash rate is 71 cents higher, set at $24.40. Before the vote, McGovern told city leaders the increase would be “a little under 3%.” The increase offsets the service provider’s annual raise to cover 3.5% cost-of-living expenses, McGovern said. She put the increased percentage lower than that, however, because the entire rate is not reflective of the trash hauler’s cost, she said....