House committee hears narrow fix to let three coastal cities’ elected councils raise water, sewer rates

The House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans on May 6 heard public testimony on Senate Bill 10 62 A, a bill that would allow the city councils of North Bend, Reedsport and Bandon to set fees, rates and other charges for municipal water and wastewater services without a voter double‑majority.

Proponents said the change is narrowly focused on health-and-safety utilities and is intended to let elected local officials plan and finance urgent upgrades. "So all this does is say we're granting the board, sure, water board, whatever the right to raise rates if they choose that it's necessary," Representative Boomer Wright said during the hearing. Senator Anderson described the bill as "really a simple bill" targeted to the three cities.

The bill matters because witnesses described failing infrastructure and the risk of service freezes that would…