Garden City council adopts utility rate increases; staff to meet breweries on sewer fees

Garden City’s City Council on Aug. 25 approved Resolution 12-14-25, amending the city’s billing policy to raise or add certain utility fees for water and sewer service, citing rising costs and a pass-through increase from the City of Boise.

The change affects the city’s enterprise utility system, which must cover the cost of service. Mayor (presiding) told the council “the significant part of our sewer increase is a pass through from the city of Boise.” The city’s controller, Miss Leidy, told the council staff will meet with Boise and local brewers to explain connection fees and possible changes to monthly sewer billing.

Council approved the resolution by roll call after a public hearing that produced no testimony. The measure authorizes the rate adjustments as set out in Title 6, Chapter 3 of the municipal code and provides an effective date for the new fees.

Why it matters: Garden City’s sewer system collects wastewater locally but pumps it to Boise for treatment under contract; as Boise’s treatment costs rise, Garden City must pass those costs to ratepayers. The council and staff said they aim to make charges equitable so residential customers do not subsidize higher-cost commercial dischargers.

Council discussion focused on how brewery operations will be billed. Miss Leidy explained Boise uses a two-part approach: a one-time connection fee based on anticipated system impact and a monthly charge based on the strength (content) of wastewater. She said Boise found breweries are producing higher-strength discharges than previously anticipated and therefore may be required to buy additional capacity through increased connection fees.

Leidy described the method staff will use to estimate brewery sewer use: “So it takes 7 gallons of water to make a gallon of beer,” she said, and the city receives monthly production reports from Alcohol Beverage Control that allow staff to estimate how much brewed volume returns to the sewer. After accounting for evaporation and production practices, staff will calculate what portion of water use should be billed as sewer flow and which strength category applies.

Leidy said Garden City has seven breweries and that most are small; she noted Western Collective is producing about 14,000 gallons of beer per month and also brews for other distributors. She said Garden City staff will coordinate meetings with Boise and local breweries and will bring Boise representatives to those meetings.

Council members acknowledged the financial pressure on residents on fixed incomes and emphasized that the increase is primarily a pass-through of costs imposed by Boise and by inflation on the city’s own operations. The council asked staff to return with timelines for brewery outreach and any calculations that show how billing changes would affect specific customers.

Ending: The council approved the billing-policy amendment by roll call and directed staff to pursue the outreach and coordination described by the controller. The council did not receive public testimony during the hearing.