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Snoqualmie holds public hearing and first reading on utility rates ordinance
Summary
City council completed a public hearing with no oral testimony and held the first reading of Ordinance 13-03, a six-year utility rate plan based on a 2025 FCS Group rate study; staff will return with more materials before the April 14 second reading.
Snoqualmie City Council held a public hearing March 24 on Ordinance 13-03, which would amend combined utility rates for 2025–2030, and conducted the ordinance’s first reading.
The public hearing drew no in-person speakers; staff said the city received a small number of written comments. Councilor Benson read the ordinance introduction and the council opened discussion with staff about the study and next steps.
City staff said the recommended changes are grounded in a 2025 utility rate study by FCS Group and in the city’s capital improvement program and operations forecast. Dylan Gamble, the city’s capital projects/CIP manager, summarized the process: staff aggregated anticipated project costs across water, sewer and storm utilities, estimated operating and staffing needs, and then translated that revenue requirement into a rate design that attempts to spread costs fairly across customer classes while phasing changes to avoid billing disruption.
Gamble told the council that the city is still addressing higher equipment and supply costs that accelerated during the COVID era and that some large items (pumps, generators) have longer delivery times and higher prices than previously forecast.
Councilors asked for more comparative data and clearer materials for residents. Councilor Wotton said she appreciated staff work but was concerned that some commercial and multifamily classes would see little or no adjustments over the next five years and requested additional analysis before a final vote. Councilor Johnson asked staff to provide a “splash page” or a single PDF summarizing the study’s findings, including how the projections have changed from earlier drafts, and to clarify the city’s low-income reduced-rate program and how many residents currently receive it.
Staff reported that the city’s municipal code includes an eligibility process for reduced rates and that the grid of reduced-rate values in the materials appears to be indexed to an outside benchmark referenced in discussion as a HUD-related index; staff agreed to confirm indexing and to assemble the presentations and supporting charts into a single accessible package for the council and public before the next hearing.
The council set the second reading and final discussion for April 14, 2025. No final action to adopt rates occurred on March 24.
