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City staff proposes 3.5% annual water increases and 5.5% annual sewer increases to sustain funds and CIP
Summary
City staff recommended annual water-rate increases of 3.5% and sewer-rate increases of 5.5% for the next 10 years to meet operating-reserve targets, debt coverage and capital needs, proposing an ordinance to take effect July 1.
City staff presented a multiyear rate study and recommended a schedule of annual rate adjustments to stabilize the water and sewer funds and to support planned capital projects.
Presented data compared national and statewide trends to Ames’s recent rate history. Staff said national drinking-water rates rose about 4.42% per year between 2019 and 2024 and Iowa drinking-water rates rose about 5.3% in a similar interval; Ames water and sewer increases over the last four years averaged lower than statewide and national averages and below inflation. Staff noted capital needs—including a wastewater nutrient-reduction project, resiliency and security upgrades, and…
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