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Study recommends 10.5% water and 7% wastewater annual increases; council asks staff to prepare five-year ordinance

5969401 · August 26, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A consultant presented a rate study showing Melbourne needs multi-year rate increases to fund a larger capital plan, cover the loss of a bulk customer and support debt service; council asked staff to prepare a five-year ordinance for consideration.

A consultant’s financial analysis presented to the Melbourne City Council on Aug. 26 recommended multi-year increases to water and wastewater user rates to meet projected capital needs and debt-service requirements.

Reftellus Financial Consultants urged the council to consider a five-year plan calling for 10.5% annual increases in water rates and 7% annual increases in wastewater rates (each effective Oct. 1 of the fiscal year) to fund a growing $500 million capital-improvement program, preserve reserves and meet projected debt-service coverage requirements.

Why it matters: The study cited three main drivers: a substantially larger capital program compared…

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