Middleton council endorses fee and wage changes, advances wastewater spending plan in budget workshop

At a July 2 budget workshop the Middleton City Council gave staff direction to move forward with a package of fee and wage changes and to reflect expanded wastewater treatment spending and possible bond revenue in the fiscal 2026 budget documents.

Treasurer Wendy Miles presented revenue and fee projections, and the council agreed to a proposed rate and fee schedule that included a 5% increase to water use rates and a 25% increase to sewer base rates tied to the wastewater plant expansion. Miles said the sewer increase would raise the typical residential utility bill by about $19.08 per month, taking an average monthly bill from approximately $93.38 to about $112.46 if adopted as proposed.

"That increase, if council agrees that they want to do these increases, it will increase a normal household bill by $19.08 per month additional," Miles said.

Councilors discussed the political difficulty of rate increases but concluded the hikes were likely necessary to fund capital work and operations; several council members said they supported moving forward. "Nobody likes raising taxes, but at the same time, it's a necessary evil at this time," one councilor said.

On payroll, councilors authorized a 4% general pay increase for city staff to remain competitive. The city's staffing payroll baseline (salaries only) was shown at roughly $3.055 million; a 4% increase would add roughly $122,000 in salary cost plus employer-paid taxes and benefits when fully loaded.

The council also directed staff to include potential bond proceeds and expanded construction and engineering estimates for the wastewater treatment plant in the 2026 budget. Public works director Jason Roan told the council the city could accelerate work and spend a larger portion of the project budget next fiscal year if financing were structured to provide up-front bond proceeds; staff recommended showing a higher construction and engineering line in the near-term budget to reflect that scenario.

"We could get a lot of money spent next year at the high range," Roan said, recommending the council allow staff to show bond revenue and increased treatment-plant spending in the budget documents.

Councilors further reviewed building- and development-related fee changes presented by the building official and endorsed several minor permit-fee cleanups and administrative fees that staff plans to include in the fee schedule.

The council also postponed discussion of elected-official salary adjustments until the next budget meeting to allow for full council participation.

The workshop did not conclude with final ordinance-level votes; councilors provided direction for staff to prepare the budget documents for a tentative adoption and a later public hearing, as required by state law.