Philomath reviews utility rate options as consultant warns of large water and stormwater shortfalls

PHILOMATH, Ore. — At a Sept. 8 work session, the Philomath City Council heard a consultant lay out proposed changes to how the city collects water, sewer and storm drainage revenue and asked staff to return with more scenarios before deciding.

Jen (vice president, Raftelis Financial Consultants) presented a draft rate design and a five‑year financial model and said the city faces a need to raise revenue to cover upcoming capital needs — most notably a new water treatment plant — and to correct under‑recovery in the storm drainage utility. “So I’m back today hoping that we can talk through some of the remaining items and get guidance on how to proceed,” she said.

The nut of the discussion was how to redesign rates so the city recovers the revenue it needs while limiting bill shock. Raftelis presented options including: raising the share of water revenue recovered through fixed (meter) charges from about 25% to roughly 30%; moving multifamily fixed charges to a per‑meter basis; adopting tiered volumetric water charges (two or three tiers) instead of a single uniform volumetric charge; adding an elevation surcharge for customers served by pumps; modifying private fire service standby fees; and reworking the storm drainage tariff so charges scale more consistently with impervious surface area.

Raftelis provided specific figures to frame the choices. The firm estimated an overall…