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City's draft FY2026 budget includes 20% proposed water, 14% sewer rate increases; county approvals still required
Summary
Finance Director Mary proposed a 20% water-rate increase and a 14% sewer-rate increase as part of the FY2026 recommended budget, with a proposed one-time $546,000 general-fund transfer to support sewer reserves.
Finance Director Mary told the commission the FY2026 recommendation includes significant proposed increases to utility user charges: "In the recommended budget, we will have proposed 20% increase in water rates and a 14% increase in sewer rates," she said during her presentation.
Mary said most of the water increase is intended to fund capital investment in the system rather than shift costs to property taxes. She explained that the city is following a commission-approved two-year plan to move water and sewer funding toward rate-based, self-supporting models rather than subsidizing those utilities with property taxes. "We made a policy decision to stop having property…
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