Lewiston council approves consolidated fee schedule; water consumption increase cut to 5% after public hearing

The Lewiston City Council approved a consolidated fee resolution that updates multiple municipal fees, including utility rates, after a public hearing where residents urged caution on increases and staff outlined capital needs.

The council adopted Resolution 2025-39 to restate and adopt the city’s consolidated fee schedule effective Oct. 1, 2025. Councilors voted to lower the originally proposed water consumption increase and approved several last-minute amendments, then passed the overall resolution.

Why it matters: City staff said the consolidated schedule replaces 11 separate fee resolutions with a single, annually updatable document intended to improve transparency and consistency across departments. Public works staff told the council the utility rate changes are intended to shore up operations, debt service and a long list of capital needs, particularly for water infrastructure.

Public hearing and main points Community development director Shannon Grove told the council the consolidated resolution combines multiple departmental fee schedules into one document for clarity, and flagged the new ability to charge different public-records fees for nonresidents under recent state legislation.

Dustin Johnson, Lewiston’s public works director, led a detailed presentation on enterprise funds (water, wastewater, stormwater and sanitation).…