(AP) — Sewer rates in Grand Island will likely soar for the next few years to pay for $73 million in improvements.

The City Council will likely approve 12 percent increases this year and next year, followed by a 6 percent raise in 2015 and 5 percent in 2016.

Councilman Mitch Nickerson says “the sticker shock on a project like this is alarming,” but it appears officials have little choice.

The improvements to the wastewater treatment plant and sewer collection system as well as billing process upgrades are long overdue.

Public Works Director John Collins says most of the sewer system is about 50 years old. Officials have postponed major maintenance projects for a decade and now, Collins says the system is in “theoretical structural failure.”