Council supports 1‑year 5% water revenue step and directs staff to bring tiered‑rate ordinance to evening meeting

The Provo City Council voted on April 8 to advance a 1‑year, 5% increase to water fund revenues and to bring a tiered‑rate ordinance back to the evening meeting for final action.

Staff summarized a revision to an earlier plan that had proposed larger multi‑year increases. Public Works and consultants said they reworked assumptions — reallocating certain administrative expenses across funds, incorporating developer contributions, and modelling a 5% increase this year with annual review — in order to meet long‑term revenue needs while moderating the immediate rate impact on residents.

Keith Larson (Bowen Collins and Associates, consultant) and Jimmy McKnight (Public Works presenter) explained that the city’s existing rates already use a form of seasonal differentiation. The consultant confirmed that the state’s recent House Bill 274 requires suppliers to include increasing‑block (tiered) pricing and to consider conservation in rate design; Larson advised that some elements of the city’s current block structure would need adjustment to align with American Water Works Association (AWWA) cost‑of‑service methodology. The proposed ordinance for the evening meeting would implement a 5% one‑year increase and a three‑tier increasing block structure for residential customers; staff said models showed the average residential customer would see little or no change after the shift because the plan combines a flat 5% across customers with tier-level adjustments.

Councilors pressed staff for clearer, customer-specific impact tables and for a public calculator showing how seasonal usage affects individual bills. Council members also discussed an appeals pathway for urban farming / agricultural users who may have high water use but operate bona fide urban food production. Several council members said they wanted an administrative exemption or nonresidential tier to avoid penalizing community gardens and small urban farms. Staff told the council a related statutory item in HB274 will not apply until 2027 but offered to develop administrative criteria for urban‑farm exceptions in advance.

Two recorded council motions at the work session moved the proposal forward: a motion to support the proposed revenue approach and bring an ordinance back for the evening meeting carried 6–0 (roll call: Bogdan, Hamley, Garrett, Whipple, Christiansen, McKay — yes; Holden excused). Councilors then also approved a request to include projected future years (an eight‑year path) as context for the ordinance review, again by voice vote 6–0. Staff will return with the ordinance and additional impact tables at the scheduled evening meeting.