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Auburn consultant review recommends small annual water and sewer increases; no new borrowing proposed for 2026
Summary
City staff presented a GHD rate evaluation showing options ranging from no rate changes to modest annual increases; staff recommended 2% annual increases to stabilize fund balances and allow cash-funded capital work. No new water or sewer borrowing is proposed for 2026.
Seth Jensen, Auburn director of municipal utilities, presented results of a GHD water and sewer rate evaluation to the City Council on Feb. 27 and recommended a strategy of modest annual rate increases to stabilize utility fund balances and enable more cash-financed capital investment.
Jensen said staff and consultant GHD modeled several scenarios, including a do-nothing option with no rate increases, a scenario with 3% increases in several years, and a staff-preferred model that applies a 2% increase annually. "The staff recommended" model, he said, "would stabilize revenue, grow our fund balance, and allow us to potentially start to cash flow projects instead of bonding and borrowing." Jensen emphasized the recommendation was developed with input from other staff members.
Jensen summarized recent rate…
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