Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU) Tap & Connection Fees (2026)

In Bowling Green, one utility handles both pipes. Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU), a city-owned utility, supplies water and collects wastewater for the whole service area, and it also distributes electricity bought wholesale from TVA. For a new single-family home with a standard 5/8-inch meter, BGMU’s published charges come to $4,000: a $400 water main line tap fee, a $1,600 flat fee for the 5/8-inch meter, and a $2,000 sewer attachment deposit (Meter Charges and Miscellaneous Service Fees, Rev. October 2025). The caveat that matters most: the $2,000 sewer figure is only a deposit. BGMU’s sewer attachments are billed at actual time and materials, so the final sewer charge can land above or below $2,000, with any difference refunded or invoiced after the work is done. For how this compares nationally, see our guide to the cost to connect to city water.

Bowling Green connection fees at a glance

Every row below comes from BGMU’s own fee documents: the Meter Charges and Miscellaneous Service Fees sheet (revised October 2025) for tap, meter and sewer attachment charges, and BGMU’s Rules and Regulations (approved November 2025) for the account application fee. BGMU prices water meters by size but lists only 5/8, 1, 2 and 4 inches; the main line tap fee and the sewer attachment deposit are flat regardless of size. Rows marked as not typical, such as the fire line tap, the manhole core fee and the development review fee, apply only in the situations their notes describe.

What a new Bowling Green house pays: worked example

Assumptions: one detached house on a lot where BGMU’s water main already runs in the street, a standard 5/8-inch meter, and a straightforward sewer attachment (no manhole coring or fire line). BGMU does not price its connection charges by lot size or zone the way some Kentucky utilities do, so the main variable for a typical home is meter size.

Published Bowling Green connection charges for one house, by meter size (source: BGMU Meter Charges and Miscellaneous Service Fees, Rev. October 2025). The sewer figure is a deposit, not a fixed price.

A 1-inch meter raises the water side by $400 over the 5/8-inch meter, taking the published total to $4,400. Both cases assume BGMU does not have to install a separate service line from the tap to the meter; if it does, that portion is billed at time and materials with no published flat rate. The sewer side is the biggest unknown: BGMU requires the $2,000 deposit at application “regardless of size,” then bills the actual cost of labor, equipment, excavation, pipe, backfill and any road cut and repair, refunding an overpayment or invoicing the difference. A short, easy attachment in an unpaved yard could come in under $2,000; a long run under a street could cost more. If the sewer connection needs a manhole cored rather than a standard tap, add a $400 Manhole Core Fee, paid before BGMU does the coring.

What Bowling Green’s fees don’t cover

BGMU’s tap fee covers the physical tap into its water main, and the meter fee covers the meter itself. The sewer attachment deposit covers BGMU’s own crew excavating, laying pipe and restoring the surface out to the point of attachment. These costs are extra and not part of the totals above:

• Water service line beyond the tap, if BGMU has to run pipe from the main tap to the meter: billed at time and materials with no published flat amount. In many infill situations with a short run, this can be minimal, but it is not disclosed as a set fee.
• Private plumbing from the meter and from the sewer cleanout into the house: $30 to $150 per foot for a water line and $50 to $250 per foot for a sewer lateral, about $50 and $100 per foot typical, including the trench (national estimate, not a BGMU quote).
• Plumbing permit and inspection. BGMU’s documents do not list a plumbing permit fee; that is handled separately from BGMU’s tap and meter process.
• Electric service. BGMU also runs the city’s electric distribution system under its wholesale power contract with TVA. Its published fees show only a $35 application fee for a new electric account (Rules and Regulations, Secs. 1 and 3); we found no separate electric tap, line-extension or transformer fee schedule published for new construction.

For example, 60 feet of water line at $50 and 60 feet of sewer lateral at $100 add about $9,000 in private work. These are national benchmark figures, not Bowling Green quotes. See water service line cost and sewer lateral cost, and model your own lot here:

How and when Bowling Green fees are paid

• Fees are due at application, before work starts. The meter fee, the $400 main line tap fee and the $2,000 sewer attachment deposit are all collected when you apply, and BGMU’s rules state that its fee schedules are part of every service application.
• BGMU’s own crews do the work. BGMU excavates, installs pipe and appurtenances, backfills and restores the surface for both the water tap and the sewer attachment, including any road cuts. The contractor’s role on a main line tap is limited to excavating the area and installing the tapping sleeve before BGMU performs the tap.
• Sewer settles up afterward. Because the $2,000 sewer figure is a deposit, expect a final reconciliation once the attachment is complete: BGMU refunds any amount left over, or invoices you for costs above the deposit.
• A separate $30 account application fee applies. BGMU charges $30 to open a new water/wastewater account (and $35 for a new electric account), collected at application; it is not a connection charge and is not included in the totals above.
• Developers face a separate track. A subdivision or any project extending a water or sewer main pays a Development Review Fee ($1,000 for lines 8 inches or smaller and under 3,000 linear feet, $1,500 for larger projects or a pump station) plus construction inspection fees estimated on BGMU’s own worksheet, under the Water New Development Packet. An individual homeowner tapping an existing main that already fronts the lot does not go through this process.

Bowling Green vs. Lexington and Louisville

Bowling Green’s single-utility model is simpler than the split systems to its north. In Lexington, Kentucky American Water and LFUCG bill separately, and the total for a small lot is $2,922.50, built from a $1,223 water tapping fee and an LFUCG sewer tap-on fee that rises with lot size. In Louisville, Louisville Water’s published water charges for a 3/4-inch service are $1,825, while MSD has no flat sewer tap fee at all — it bills the actual construction cost plus a $250 administrative fee. Bowling Green’s $4,000 published total for a 5/8-inch home sits well above Lexington’s small-lot figure and Louisville’s water-only figure, mainly because BGMU folds a substantial, though refundable-if-overpaid, sewer deposit into the upfront cost rather than charging a smaller flat privilege fee. Unlike Lexington’s sewer fee, which rises with lot size, and unlike Louisville’s, which depends on whether the lot is in a bonded subdivision, Bowling Green’s flat tap and meter fees do not vary by lot size or location within the service area.

Upcoming changes in Bowling Green

BGMU’s Meter Charges and Miscellaneous Service Fees sheet carries a “Rev. Date October, 2025” line and its Rules and Regulations were “Approved November, 2025,” both recent documents with no announced increase pending as of this check. BGMU’s rules state that its Rules and Regulations and rate schedules “may be revised, amended, supplemented or otherwise changed from time to time, without notice,” so confirm current amounts with BGMU’s office (270-782-1200, 801 Center Street) before you budget a project, especially the sewer attachment’s actual final cost, which BGMU does not publish in advance.

Bowling Green tap fee FAQ

Where to go next from Bowling Green

Compare Bowling Green with Lexington and Louisville, or see the full tap fees by city table. Related guides: tap fee vs. impact fee, sewer connection cost, water meter installation cost and the utility connection cost calculator.

Bowling Green fee sources

• Meter Charges and Miscellaneous Service Fees (Rev. October, 2025), Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Rules and Regulations (Approved November, 2025; Secs. 1, 3, 23), Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Water New Development Packet (Rev. Jan 1, 2026 / Mar 18, 2026, Review Fees), Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Rates and Fees, Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.