Wellington trustees, stakeholders begin summer rate study focused on equity and revenue stability

Wellington Town staff and a stakeholder rate advisory group convened to kick off a multi-meeting rate and fee study that will examine water, wastewater and stormwater finances, rate structure and tap fees. Megan Smith, deputy director of public works for the town of Wellington, led the session and confirmed the group’s first formal advisory meeting is scheduled for May 28.

The study will update the town’s 2022 rate work and test whether the current rate structure meets the board’s priorities of revenue sufficiency, defensibility and equitable cost recovery among customer classes. “This will be the third resident rate roundtable that the town has pulled together in my time here,” Smith said, noting the advisory group approach was used in prior studies to gather resident perspectives.

Consultants from Raftelis outlined the study framework and the four technical components: a financial plan, cost-of-service analysis, rate design and tap (impact) fees. “We want to make sure that the existing rate payers are not funding growth initiatives,” said Todd Cristiano, a Raftelis consultant, describing the firm’s emphasis on defensible, durable and deliberate financial modeling.

Trustees and participants flagged three recurring priorities. Several trustees emphasized revenue sufficiency and revenue stability to ensure the town can pay operating and capital costs and maintain required coverage ratios. “Revenue sufficiency and revenue stability… are probably the most important things in my book,” Trustee Mason said.

Affordability for low-volume households drew repeated attention. The group discussed the “essential water use” approach adopted in the prior study, which treated the first 3,000 gallons per month as a lower-priced allotment embedded in a minimum charge. Multiple speakers urged retaining some form of that protection for low-volume users while testing whether the 3,000-gallon threshold remains appropriate with recent usage and weather trends.

Trustees and residents also pushed for greater parity between customer classes. “My goal is to see that equality… be distributed among the classes,” Trustee Teets said, arguing commercial and irrigation rates should not be so low that residential customers carry a disproportionate share of costs.

The consultants showed town data demonstrating that most single-family bills clustered around 3,000–4,000 gallons per month, and that yearly precipitation strongly affects aggregate usage and revenues. They also said the study will re-examine wastewater “high-strength” surcharge options and, for the first time in this round, develop a stormwater financial plan tied to the Box Elder Basin Stormwater Authority data.

Several residents described the personal impact of rising water costs. James Raymond, a resident, said he had cut landscaping and water features over the last decade as bills rose, and asked what further reductions remain realistic for long-time, high-usage customers. Trustees and staff responded that the study will evaluate price signals — including higher incremental charges for exceptionally high usage — while also testing billing transitions to reduce one-time bill shocks.

Next steps: Raftelis will provide detailed alternatives and data to the advisory group over a sequence of four summer meetings. The board directed staff and consultants to use the stakeholder input to shape pricing objectives and to return recommendations to the Board of Trustees for final action. The first advisory-group meeting is set for May 28; staff asked participants to raise scheduling conflicts with Megan Smith.