Arvada council signals support for mid‑range rate scenario as staff outlines CIP, debt timing

Arvada City Council members and city utility staff met Aug. 12 to review four water, wastewater and stormwater rate-and-fee scenarios for 2026 and the capital improvements those scenarios would fund.

The meeting focused on how different combinations of volumetric (usage) and fixed charges, together with potential bond issues, would pay for projects in the city’s 10‑year capital improvement plan (CIP). Staff presented two “bookend” scenarios (minimal and fully funded) and two middle options; multiple council members said they favored the middle option labeled scenario C.

Why it matters: the scenarios change which capital projects move forward and when the city would need to issue debt to pay for them. That affects rates now and in future years and the timing of projects such as trunk‑line repairs and large waterline replacements.

Jacqueline Rhodes, Arvada’s infrastructure director, led the presentation and said the staff team tightened operating budgets before updating the scenarios. Rhodes summarized the four scenarios, noting that scenario A is minimally funded while scenario D would fully fund the CIP; she said staff developed two intermediate options in response to council feedback. Rhodes told council the team recommended deferring the pump‑zone surcharge work to the next cycle because “this is a complicated project to scope.”

Chris Gray, utilities business manager, walked council through the…