BENTON — There will be a water rate increase in Benton starting in July.

At Monday night’s Benton City Council meeting, the Council approved increasing water rates by a flat $1, equating to a $12 per year increase for every water customer.

City Clerk Brook Craig says Rend Lake has raised their rates and therefore the city needed to raise rates to make up the difference.

In other business, the Council approved for an ordinance to be created making all of the first block off of the public square on South Main Street a no parking area due to safety concerns, approved the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget, approved leaving salaries for Council members the same as they currently are, opened bids for mowing at Benton Municipal Airport but no decision was made and gave Zoning Administrator David Garavalia a one-year contract that was retroactive to Jan. 4 of this year.