Water department outlines FY26 plan: 9% proposed rate increase, lead‑service program and SCADA upgrade

Christopher Lester, director of the City of Dubuque water department, presented the department’s fiscal‑year 2026 budget to the council and described priorities including regulatory compliance, lead service‑line replacement, a SCADA upgrade and plans to advance a deep well as a PFAS mitigation measure.

Lester said the department serves more than 24,000 customers with 27 full‑time employees and manages a distribution network of roughly 330 miles. The presentation noted a proposed 9% water rate increase for FY26; staff estimated that for an average Dubuque household using about 6,000 gallons per month the increase would be approximately $3.60 per month, raising the average monthly bill to about $42.58.

On regulatory work, staff described completion of the Lead and Copper Rule revision requirement to inventory service‑line materials by the federal/state deadline and to publish the inventory online; the city posted a lead service line map and said it notified customers whose lines were identified as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, or lead‑status unknown. Lester described a private lead service‑line replacement pilot funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law; the city expects to replace about 585 private lead service lines in three phases, with phase 1 replacing roughly 196 lines during the coming construction season. Staff described about $2.5 million of the pilot project cost as forgivable funds; the program is voluntary and subject to Iowa DNR and Iowa Finance Authority socio‑economic eligibility rules.

Capital and operations highlights included a $1.345 million contract awarded to Westfall & Company to upgrade the Eagle Point Water Treatment Plant SCADA system (the current system was installed in 1993 and is no longer supported), meter interface unit replacement plans (about 5,000 MIUs annually under a five‑year program), and completion of a $76,742 spring 2025 well rehabilitation project. Staff also described continuing work on PFAS mitigation and advancing a proposed deep well with sampling to date showing no PFAS detections; engineers estimated the deep well at just under $4.5 million plus contingency.

Councilmembers questioned the cashflow, how the 9% increase funds capital projects (some projects are funded with a mix of debt and cash), procurement for large material purchases, and the timing to meet future regulatory deadlines for replacing lead service lines. Jennifer Larson, chief financial officer, explained that an anticipated $199,000 spend down reflected use of fund balance for capital and did not represent an operating deficit requiring rate coverage. The staff presentation also included performance metrics: in FY24 the department reported roughly 2.5 billion gallons treated and 2.067 billion gallons metered, implying about 20.8% non‑revenue water.

A public commenter raised concerns about construction costs and enterprise fund rate pressure; no formal council vote or ordinance was recorded on the budget presentation during the special session.