In the next two weeks the Talladega City Council will decide how much it will raise water and sewer rates to cover a $10 million bond issue approved at Monday’s council meeting. The bond issue is necessary to pay for improvements needed to bring the water and sewer systems into compliance with state and federal consent agreements.

No one likes rate increases, especially in this economy. But this appears to be a situation where there is little choice for the council. It can either issue the bonds, raise rates to repay them, or risk heavy fines and even more expensive mandates from the state and federal agencies.

Much could be said about how Talladega’s water and sewer system got into this mess. But such comment would not solve the problem now before the council.

That problem is that the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the federal Environmental Protection Agency have agreed that if the city will improve its system, there will be no fines or mandates. Without that agreement, government officials could, and probably would, step in to make whatever changes deemed necessary and charge its users whatever it needed to cover those costs.

This way, the elected officials who represent the citizens of Talladega have a say in what is done, how it is done and how it will be paid for.

Rate increases of 1 percent; 4 percent and 8 percent are being considered. Interim city manager Brian Muenger says he will probably recommend the 4 percent increase, which would result in about 138 percent coverage of the debt payments each year.

“Three or four years down the line, if we need to, we can always go back to the market to borrow some more. Coverage of about 125 percent is usually standard, so we should feel very secure at 138 percent,” he said.

The council can expect the usual outcry that accompanies any increase in costs. But it really has no other option. Neither do the citizens of Talladega if they want clean water and a safe sewer system.

You get what you pay for. And this service must be paid for.