LAKE ARTHUR, La. (AP) - Residential water rates in one Louisiana town are about to more than double.

  

Lake Arthur Mayor Sherry Crochet says it has been 31 years since the last water rate hike, and the department has a big deficit. The Town Council voted unanimously for the increase on Wednesday, and the American Press reports that nobody in the audience of nearly 50 spoke against it.

  

Residential customers in town now pay $8 a month. That's going up to $18 a month, starting in April, including a $1 state fee. Out-of-town residential customers will pay $35.

  

Commercial customers will pay $55 a month in town and $75 out of town. Such users include car washes, laundromats, service stations, schools and churches.

  

The 2018 budget shows the department operating at a loss of $143,000.