By Rapids City Times staff

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — The State Public Service Commission has opened an investigation into a one-point-two million dollar upgrade to an iron treatment water facility in Wisconsin Rapids.

City leaders are accused of making the upgrades in 2014 without regulatory approval.

The investigation has been triggered after it was discovered that the cost of the project cost more than 25-percent of the utility’s operating revenues in 2013. Any project costing more than that requires regulatory approval.

Reports indicate that 25-percent of the utility’s operating revenue for that year was 364-thousand dollars. If the city is found guilty, state regulators could prevent them from recouping the cost of the project through an increase in user rates. Wisconsin Rapids could also face prosecution from the State Attorney General’s office.

State officials have not commented on the matter.

In the last year, the state has brought similar accusations on smaller utility companies. Wisconsin Rapids is one of the largest to face the charges so far.