With budget season coming to a close, the Bonney Lake City Council is bringing back to the table an issue that’s been debated for the last two years — water and sewer rates.
Since hiring the Financial Consulting Services Group in November 2016 to perform a rate study for the two utilities, the council has struggled to balance the infrastructure needs of the city against the increasing impact on its residents’ wallets.
When FCSG returned spring 2017 with rate increase proposals, the council balked at how hard the average resident would be hit, so they directed city staff and engineering consulting firm RH2 to re-examine what capital improvements are absolutely necessary and which can be postponed, whittling down the rate increase percentages little by little.
By September 2018, FCSG came back with new rates. The council, appearing to be nearing an agreement, sent the rates back to the council’s Finance Committee for one last look.
That was a lucky break for the city, said City Administrator John Vodopich and Financial Director Cherie Gibson.
According to Vodopich and Gibson, the numbers FCSG presented to the council last September would not only have failed to collect enough revenue for the city to go forward with an estimated $33 million in necessary water and sewer infrastructure improvement projects, but it also would have emptied the utility’s fund balances.
“It’s a good thing we didn’t pass the last scenario,” Gibson said to the council during a special Oct. 30 meeting about the rate increases.
Of course, “a good thing” is relative, as FCSG and city staff came up with new numbers that precipitate a larger-than-expected hike in utility bills if these ordinances pass the Nov. 13 council meeting, when they’re scheduled to go for a vote after print deadline.
If passed, water rates will see an 8.5 percent increase every year, starting January 2019 through 2023.
This will affect not only water consumption rates, but water availability rates, which changes based on the water meter size.
According to the city, the average single-family home uses a 5/8-inch meter, and consumes 7 centum cubic feet (CCF), or about 5,236 gallons, of water every month.
Between 2018 and 2023, the water availability charge for a 5/8-inch meter inside city limits would rise from $17.11 to $25.72. Coupled with the rise in water consumption rates, from $1.41 to $2.12 per CFF of water, the average total monthly water bill for residents in city limits is expected to rise from $26.98 to $40.57 by the end of 2023.
Residents outside city limits would see their water availability charge jump from $26.41 to $39.71 and their consumption rise from $2.04 to $3 per CCF, for a total average monthly bill jumping from $40.69 to $60.71 by the end of 2023.
After 2023, water rates will continue to rise incrementally based on the Seattle area Consumer Price Index to cover annual inflation. However, “I fully expect that in the intervening five years we will go back and revisit the rate structure again” to make sure the city stays on track for bringing in enough revenue for the water utility projects and fund balance, Vodopich said.
Over on the sewer side of things, rates would jump even higher; the proposed ordinance increases both the sewer availability charge and volumetric charge by 15 percent in 2019, 8 percent in 2020 and 2021, and then CIP increases starting in 2022.
Sewer rates differ depending on whether or not residents have a city-owned grinder pump.
Those without a grinder pump will see their sewer availability charge rise from $62.89 to $84.35 in 2022. With a volumetric charge of $3.91 per 100 CFF of water rising to $5.24 by 2022, an average family using 7 CCFs of water will see their total monthly sewer bill jump from $90.26 to $121.03.
Those with a grinder pump will find their availability charge jump from $75.46 to $101.21. With the same volumetric charge and an additional grinder pump charge of $20, the total average monthly sewer bill will go from $122.83 to $157.89.
All together, monthly bills could range from around $161 to $200 by 2023.
Even on audio, it was clear councilmembers were taken aback by the proposed rate increases.
“We expected that reaction,” Vodopich said as Gibson explained why the rate increases were necessary.
In the water utility, “You’ve been operating in the red in operations since 2014, possibly before,” she said, adding that the utility’s capital has also been operating mostly in the red. “Your rates should be funding also a portion of your future capital needs, and right now, we don’t have the ability to do that. As you can see, your operations alone is operating in the red, so this is pretty easy to explain why you’re needing the rate you’re needing.”
“Your sewer is a little bit different scenario — your sewer operations, for the most part, have been in the black, but your capital has been operating in the negative,” Gibson continued. “You don’t have the same fund balance, cash balance, availability you do in water. So you’ve been contributing nothing from your rates to re-invest in future capital needs, and that’s where we’re really behind in sewer.”
The capital needs Gibson refers to include water storage capacity, water main distribution and replacement, the city’s water meter upgrade program, sewer lift station pumping and storage capacity, and sewer main work.
