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RALEIGH -- Water customers in Raleigh and Garner will pay a little extra now and a little more later after the Raleigh City Council voted Monday to increase water rates.

The hike won't come all at one time. Council members rejected a proposed one-time, 17-percent increase. Instead they'll bump rates by about 9 percent starting May 1, boosting the average customer's bill by about $2.50 a month.

But that's little consolation to customers like Susan Byrd-Levanthal, who was paying her water bill at City Hall Monday.

"I don't think breaking it up really makes a difference," she said. "In the end the citizens are going to end up paying."

Customers will see another bump in December when tiered water rates go into effect. Tiered rates mean customers who use less water have lower rates.

Mayor Charles Meeker says conservation is key component of the plan.

"By doing this in two steps, it allows folks who are concerned about their water rates to go ahead and get those low-flow devices and stop irrigating so they can take full advantage of that lower tier," Meeker said.

The proposed increase comes after a projected 10 percent decrease in revenue for the year after customers conserved during last year's drought.

"The good news is, we got people to conserve, the bad news is, it's probably more than we needed them to," said Councilman Philip Isley.

Isley voted against the increase.

"I really believe we should have looked at other ways to deal with this, which would include general funding issues, not spending so much money on other projects within the city," Isley said.

Byrd-Levanthal agrees and said she isn't looking forward to paying her next bill.

"That's highway robbery!" she said.

Raleigh and Garner customers are the only municipalities impacted by the increases because they have fully paid for their merged systems. Other towns using Raleigh water have higher rates to pay merger costs.

Raleigh's not the first city in the state to increase water rates after increased conservation. Charlotte bumped its rates up by 15 percent last year.