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City staff asks council to set July 15 public hearing on proposed utility rate changes
Summary
City staff requested the council schedule a July 15 public hearing on proposed utility rate changes, with an initial rate change effective Aug. 1, 2025; staff said a delayed rate study and comprehensive plan pushed the timeline past the usual April 1 rate date.
A city staff member asked the City Council to schedule a public hearing for July 15, 2025, on proposed utility rate changes, with an initial change to take effect Aug. 1, 2025. "I'm also asking to schedule that public hearing for July 15, 2025, ideally with rates effective Aug. 1, 2025," the staff member said.
The staff member told council the packet is asking the council to choose between options and to set the hearing date. "If we need to bring more information back to council, for questions that we can't answer at this time, we'd be more than happy to do so," the staff member said.
A councilmember asked for clarification about the timing after noting an earlier presentation that had suggested the new rates would take effect in 2026. "In your earlier presentation, you said the rates would be effective 2026. This is August of this year," the councilmember said. Mister Thybeson, identified in discussion as the presenter, replied that the original rate change would go into effect Aug. 1 and that subsequent annual adjustments historically have taken effect April 1. "The original rate would go into effect Aug. 1, and then the following rates go April 1. So annually, we've done 2.5% over the last several years," Thybeson said.
Thybeson said the city has grown and that the comprehensive plan and the rate study took additional time, which delayed bringing the information to council before the usual April 1 schedule. "We didn't have this ready for council before April 1, so we wanted to make sure we had as much information available and all our information accurate to bring to council, and it just the timelines didn't match up," he said.
During the discussion a councilmember also raised the city's role as a large water user and asked whether certain irrigation areas, citing the Ramsey Ball Fields as an example, had been considered in planning or exemptions.
The transcript excerpt records the staff request to set a public hearing but does not show a formal motion, vote, or final decision by the council on the hearing date or on adopting rates.
The council will take up any formal scheduling or rate-adoption steps at a subsequent meeting or at the public hearing if scheduled.
