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). "Lewiston has expensive water," Johnson told the council, summarizing the city’s long-term underinvestment and the cost of operating a system that pumps river water up and through multiple pressure zones. He said the city faces roughly $50 million in identified capital needs and that rate increases alone cannot fully cover that gap without grant funding or project bundling.

City treasurer Amy Gordon told councilors the golf course contract with CourseCo transferred about $100,000 net to the city in 2024 and that golf course revenue has been used for capital repairs. Fire Chief Greg Reitmeier and others explained how some EMS fees are tied to intergovernmental contracts.

Residents urged restraint on rate hikes and pressed for clearer bill breakdowns. Bob Blakey, a candidate for council and a longtime resident, said the water system is complex and historic decisions had deferred costs. "We were told the only way we’re going to get ourselves out of this hole was to have a bond issue," Blakey said, urging transparency about how prior funds were used.

Key amendments and votes - Water consumption rate: Councilor Klein moved to reduce the proposed FY2026 water consumption increase (originally presented as higher) to 5% (rate value 0.03768555). Councilor Spickelmeyer seconded; the amendment passed on voice vote. The director had earlier explained the administration’s baseline package would result in a roughly 5.25% revenue increase overall if consumption followed prior patterns.

- Wastewater single-residence fee: Councilor Spickelmeyer moved — and the council approved — leaving the single-residence wastewater service fee (including mobile homes on individual lots) unchanged at the FY2025 levels ($52.09 and $39.07 for the reduced assistance tier) for FY2026.

- Other changes: A proposed planning-and-zoning appeal refund amendment (to refund 50% of an appeal fee when the appellant wins) was introduced but withdrawn after the city attorney advised a code change would be needed before modifying fees tied to code procedures.

Final action: After the amendments, the council moved, discussed and approved Resolution 2025-39, the consolidated fee schedule for FY2026, with roll-call recorded and the motion carrying at the end of the meeting. The resolution restates multiple fee schedules (public records, EMS, parks and recreation, cemetery, business licensing, planning and building permits, public works, and utilities) into a single annually updated schedule.

What the council and staff said next Johnson reiterated that water rates are driven by a combination of operating costs, debt service (including a water-plant bond), and capital needs such as an updated intake and reservoir work; he said those projects cannot be paid for solely by immediate rate increases and that grants and bundled projects (dig-once opportunities) will be important.

Treasurer Amy Gordon and others said some enterprise funds have reserves used for capital projects and that the council’s amendments shift pressure away from rate payers for certain customer classes.

How bills will change for a typical customer Staff provided a sample bill showing a modest net increase for a low-consumption household: using the amended rates, a sample monthly account in the presentation rose from $141.16 to $145.48 — roughly a 2.5% increase for that sample customer. The monthly meter (base) fee was retained for smaller meters, and the council froze the meter fee increases proposed in prior drafts for certain customers to limit impacts on low users.

Next steps The consolidated fee schedule is effective Oct. 1, 2025. Staff said many large capital items will still require grants, bonding or multi-year planning; the council asked staff to return with additional information on capital prioritization and grant-seeking for water intake and treatment projects.

Ending Councilors and staff said they recognize rate increases are difficult for households on fixed incomes and emphasized the city’s utility-assistance and income-based "circuit breaker" program as an available resource for qualifying residents.