As West University Place’s comprehensive water and sewer rate study advances, City Council will continue considering various rate scenarios in July before adopting a rate within the city’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget.
City Council last approved a water and sewer rate study in August 2022, and usually completes this type of study every three to five years, according to June agenda documents.
Explained
The proposed water rate scenarios presented during the June 26 City Council meeting included:
- Scenario 1: 10% across-the-board increase for all charges—for residential charges that would go from $13.41 to $14.75; for commercial charges that would go from $39.31 to $43.24
- Scenario 2: Increase fixed monthly residential charge to $19.44 to obtain 25% fixed charge recovery—which currently stands at $13.41; for commercial charges, that would go from $39.31 to $57.00
- Scenario 3: Increase fixed monthly residential charge to $19.44 to obtain 25% fixed charge recovery—which currently stands at $13.41; for commercial charges, that would go from $39.31 to $57.00
“This is not set in stone," said Lundyn Harrelson, senior consultant with Raftelis, a utility rate consulting firm. "I also want to point out one thing and that is that a rate adjustment does not directly correlate to the percentage increase on a user’s bill. So rate adjustment does not completely equal bill impact.”
Going forward
The completed study will be presented to City Council during a July 28 meeting. Once a rate structure is approved, it will be included in the city’s 2026 fee schedule, according to June agenda documents.
