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Pasco City Council approves budget amendment to fund upsized water and irrigation program
Summary
The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 4777 to add appropriations to the 2025–26 biennial operating budget for the city’s upsized water and irrigation program, a program intended to pay for installing larger underground pipes as development occurs.
The Pasco City Council on Jan. 23 adopted Ordinance No. 4777 amending the 2025–26 biennial operating budget to provide additional appropriations in the city’s water and irrigation funds to support an upsized infrastructure program.
City staff say the program reimburses or supplements work done as development occurs so underground water and irrigation infrastructure is installed at sizes intended to meet long-term system needs rather than requiring later upsizing and repeat disturbances. “As a reminder, the program works as development occurs. We want to ensure that underground infrastructure is built to the right size to serve the long term needs of our system,” Director Sarah said.
Council discussion was brief. Council member Brousse said he appreciated materials provided over the weekend and asked that future upsizing agreements include more detail and be more formalized so council can make informed decisions. “If we're gonna be doing upsizing agreements ... just add more information,” Brousse said.
A council member moved to adopt Ordinance No. 4777, which also declared an emergency and authorized publication by summary only. The motion was seconded, the council voted in favor and the ordinance passed unanimously.
Director Sarah stated she would recuse herself from the item before the substantive presentation; the transcript indicates the recusal but does not specify the reason. The ordinance text and the staff report were referenced as having been discussed at prior meetings, most recently the prior Monday, and staff noted the allocation will supplement the irrigation upsizing program and add a corresponding allocation to the water fund.
The ordinance adds appropriations to the city’s water and irrigation funds to support finalizing upsizing work when development occurs. Staff did not provide a line-item dollar amount in the public presentation during this meeting; the transcript notes that council requested more detail for future upsizing agreements and suggested codifying aspects of the program.
No other formal actions were taken on this item during the meeting.
Looking ahead, council comment requested clearer documentation in future agenda packets and consideration of formal policy language to govern how upsizing agreements are handled when they are funded through the operating budget or during the budget cycle.
