LINCOLN - New rules for billboards and an increase in sewer rates in Lincoln are set to go into effect Nov. 1.

Sewer service bills for residential customers will rise from $16.43 per month to $20 per month, an increase of approximately 20 percent. Rates for commercial and industrial users who are charged on the volume of wastewater discharge also will increase by 20 percent, said sewer and facility manager Dave Kitzmiller.

"Without this rate increase, we would have close to a $200,000 deficit in the sewer fund this year," he said.

"Our costs have increased dramatically over the years, and in order to cover our expenses, we have to raise the rates," Alderman Buzz Busby said during a September sewer committee meeting to discuss the rate increase. "Electricity at the sewer plant, for instance, is costing us about $350,000, which is twice what it was just a few years ago."

Beginning May 1, 2011, the monthly residential sewer rate will increase $1 every two years. Commercial and industrial user rates also will see subsequent increases equal to the percentage increase for residential customers.

The rates were last raised July 1, 2003.

The ordinance was passed Monday along with the long-awaited ordinance on billboards. The ordinance committee has been working for about six months on the new language governing billboards.

The new regulations define billboards as any outdoor sign that is more than 100 square feet but less than 1,200 square feet. Any sign that exceeds the limit will have to be removed within 30 days.

"It's a safety issue," said Wanda Rohlfs, who was largely responsible for rewriting the new codes. "We wanted our enforcement officer to have the power to regulate these signs because in addition to being unsafe at intersections, they could also lower property values for homeowners."

City officials now are working on an ordinance to update the city codes on signs. No date has been scheduled for a vote on a sign ordinance update.

Alderman Verl Prather volunteered to study the current codes and provide the ordinance committee with some recommendations on the updates.