Commerce — At a special City Council meeting Sept. 2, 2025, the council held the first reading of an ordinance amending Ordinance 2024-10-003 to modify water and wastewater rates for fiscal year 2026. City Manager Mister Lizzie presented the proposal and the council voted to advance the ordinance to a second reading at the regular September meeting.

The ordinance would change the city's water and sewer rate structure. Mister Lizzie told the council the proposal would increase the average residential water and sewer bill by about $2 per month and that combined with the proposed property tax change would result in roughly a $6–$7 monthly impact for a typical household.

Mister Lizzie said the city is keeping a lifeline rate for residential customers: the first 4,000 gallons of monthly water consumption is charged at $4 per 1,000 gallons. "You could say that we're losing money on those 4,000 gallons," he said, adding the lifeline protects basic water needs and many seniors and fixed-income households.

Mister Lizzie provided the council with breakdowns of accounts and consumption. Residential accounts make up about 86% of water accounts but consume roughly 42.7% of the water produced; wholesale contracts account for about 18.6% of water produced but only about 9.2% of water revenue. He said residential customers historically provided about 50–51% of water revenue and the city has been shifting rate structure to align revenue responsibilities more closely with consumption.

Key figures presented by Mister Lizzie: the proposed change would raise the combined water and sewer bill for residential customers who use 4,000 gallons or less from $80 to $82 per month (a $2 or 3% increase). For customers using 6,000 gallons, the monthly bill would rise by about $3; for 10,000 gallons, about $5. Mister Lizzie said 67% of residential customers remain at or below the 4,000-gallon tier.

The presentation also described how sewer charges are tied to water consumption and that the city caps the higher sewer charge at 10,000 gallons because water used above that level is frequently outside use (sprinklers, pools) and not returned to the sewer system. Mister Lizzie said multifamily meters do not receive the lifeline rate because a single meter typically serves multiple units.

The council made a motion to advance the ordinance on first reading; the motion carried with the vote called as "aye" and no opposition recorded. The ordinance will return for a second reading at the regular September meeting where the council may adopt a final rate ordinance.

Background: Mister Lizzie framed the utility-rate discussion within the city budget, noting that public safety and other general fund services rely on tax and fee revenue. He outlined examples of budgeted public-safety increases supported by the overall budget, including new patrol vehicles and radio improvements, linking the utility rates to the larger fiscal picture.