Should I charge tenant for utilities in up/down duplex?

[Mitchell R Fiecke]

My wife and I are waiting to close on a up/down duplex. We will be renting out the top unit while we make renovations/upgrades to the downstairs unit. The duplex is currently a single family property so utilities are all on one meter. We are confident we can rent the upstairs unit for at least 1.5k a month. The downstairs can be rented out for roughly 800 to 1000 a month. Utilities for the entire property are roughly 500 a month. Ideally we would like to have the tenants pay for utilities but once the downstairs unit is being rented out, it wouldn't be fair to have the upstairs tenants pay for the whole bill. Would it make more sense for us to pay utilities and charge a little more for rent even though it will cut into our cash flow? Is it possible to charge a certain percentage for each unit? For example, charge 70% to the upstairs tenants and 30% for the downstairs?

Please let me know if you guys have any ideas or suggestions on what the best way to approach this situation would be! This duplex is my wife and I's 2nd investment property so we are still new to the game and want to make sure we make the correct decision.

Thank you in advance for the advice!!