Council debates water rate changes after city capitalizes emergency main breaks

Councilors pressed the manager and chief financial officer Tuesday about an approach the administration has used to fund emergency water‑main repairs: capitalizing large, recurring breaks through loan orders rather than covering them in the water department’s operating budget.

Councilor Gitscheer led the questioning, asking whether the loan orders approved in the capital plan could be used to “float emergency water main breaks” and whether the city would then pay interest on work previously performed by in‑house crews. He said the practice could be more expensive than relying on city crews and…