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Chesapeake staff, consultants warn higher water and sewer rates likely to fund aging system
Summary
City staff and Stantec consultants told council the city’s current 5‑year rate plan will not cover rising capital and operating costs; consultants recommended adding 2 percentage points to the last two years of the existing plan and adopting a higher index thereafter to fund $73.5 million of identified critical needs.
Chesapeake city officials and outside consultants on Tuesday told the City Council that the local water and sewer utility faces higher-than-forecasted costs and that the city will need larger future rate increases to maintain service and fund critical repairs.
The council work session, led by City Manager Price and consultants from Stantec, reviewed an updated financial analysis that reflects post‑pandemic increases in chemical, plastic pipe and construction costs. Andrew Burnham of Stantec said the city’s 2.9 percent annual indexing in the current five‑year plan is now below industry trends and that the firm’s updated projections show an expected “new normal” index of about 4.9 percent in future years.
Why it matters: Consultants and the utilities director stressed that Chesapeake has older treatment plants and…
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