Edmond presents FY26 water and wastewater budget, schedules rate study and small increases

City of Edmond Water Resources staff presented the proposed fiscal year 2025–26 water and wastewater budgets on Wednesday, saying the water fund is projected at about $44 million for next year while wastewater revenues are projected at roughly $27.5 million for the current year.

The presentation warned that capital project costs and debt service are the largest drivers of future rate increases and recommended a new water and wastewater rate study before the next major water-plant construction phase. The staff presentation also proposed targeted staffing additions, continued use of reserves for rate stabilization, and monitoring of new regulatory requirements including PFAS testing.

Water Resources staff told the mayor and council that the water plant fund had realized roughly $48 million in revenues this year versus a $41 million budget, largely because of drought-driven usage, and that staff is proposing a budgeted revenue figure of about $44 million for FY26. Staff said the city is maintaining a policy of keeping steady, smaller annual rate increases to avoid large, infrequent jumps: “our policy, as of late, has been to keep the 2–3% variety of increases, rather than holding them off and having 10% or 15% rate increases every 5 years,” the presenter said.

The presentation explained existing reserve and debt practices: the utility maintains minimum reserves to meet bond and State Revolving Fund loan covenants (staff cited a 90-day minimum as the operational baseline), uses 30‑year debt terms to distribute project costs across growth, and leverages state programs that issue revenue bonds on a junior lien to the utility where beneficial. Staff noted planned capital work including the second phase of the water plant expansion and other projects currently in design.

On operations and personnel, staff proposed adding one water-well operator to respond to chlorine-residual and other monitoring requirements and one general-maintenance position for wastewater as additional facilities come online. Staff also said about 100 active leaks remain on the system, down from a spike above 200 in an earlier period, and described continuing investments in waterline replacement and condition assessment. “We have to take the water plant completely offline each March or April … so it’s gotta be completely offline so that we can clean out lines, do maintenance,” Water Resources staff said, describing seasonal constraints.

Staff identified other cost pressures: chemical and electricity costs, Oklahoma City wholesale water increases (staff said Oklahoma City implemented a larger-than-expected increase that effectively reached about 17% for the city), and a newly announced federal requirement to begin PFAS monitoring in 2026. Staff said existing activated-carbon treatment at the water plant will be used to evaluate PFAS compliance once the new treatment phase begins.

Council members and Director of Public Works Keith Stewart asked staff to return with a rate-study timeline and to keep the council informed as the design reaches a 90% cost estimate so elected officials can assess rate impacts before contracts are let. The council did not take any formal votes; staff said the water/wastewater rate study is budgeted for the coming year and will be paired with Public Works Committee briefings and future council discussions.

Looking ahead, staff said it will bring the water/wastewater rate study results back to the Public Works Committee and City Council prior to finalizing funding mechanisms for the next water plant phase and before issuing bids.