“We’ve been looking at the rate model every single year,” Waldron said. “[We] want to make sure that we have the most accurate data in that model.”
In addition to growth in demand, debt service and impact fees—a charge to new development to fund infrastructure costs–also affect residents’ utility rates.
Digging deeper
The proposed rates for water base fees are as follows:
- $50 for ⅝-inch water meters
- $85 for ¾-inch water meters
- $135 for 1-inch water meters
Although the rates are lower than what city staff projected for future budgets during last year’s budget planning, the rates are still an increase from the FY 2024-25 budget. The rates represent a $5 base fee increase for ⅝-inch meters, $8.50 for ¾-inch meters and $13.50 for 1-inch meters.
Volume charges for water—fees based on the user’s water usage—will also likely increase, with the following projected rates:
- $6.75 per 1,000 gallons for 0-3,000 gallons
- $8.40 per 1,000 gallons for 3,001-10,000 gallons
- $10.50 per 1,000 gallons for 10,001-25,000 gallons
- $13.10 per 1,000 gallons for greater than 25,000 gallons
These rates represented $0.55 increase for tier one, $0.60 increase for tier two, $0.70 increase for tier three and $0.80 increase for tier four.
“We are seeing an uptick in impact fees, which means we can start utilizing some of those impact fees to try to control the rates a little bit,” Waldron said.
What else?
Project wastewater fees are as follows:
- $55 base charge
- $6.10 volume charge per 1,000 gallons
This amounts to a $4 increase in base charge from FY 2024-25 and a $0.40 increase for the volume charge.
“On the wastewater side [there are] not as many changes as to what we projected last year,” Waldron said.
What residents should know
City staff calculated what an average resident would pay for their utility bill, which assumes a ⅝-inch water meter, 8,000 gallons water volume and 5,000 gallons wastewater volume.
Currently, an average bill would amount to $107.25 for water and $85.50 for wastewater, for a total utility bill of $215.12 including other fees.
For FY 2025-26, a resident could expect to pay $114.35 for water and $97.50 for wastewater, for a total utility bill of $234.22 including other fees.
