Kamas council hears options to raise water, sewer rates; public hearing set for next meeting

KAMAS — City staff and members of the Kamas City Council discussed proposed increases to sewer and water utility rates during a council meeting, with staff directed to refine numbers and present a formal proposal at the next meeting for a public hearing.

Council members and staff said the goal is to bring the sewer and water funds closer to operating and capital needs after years of underfunding. Staff outlined scenarios that would raise the sewer base (currently $24 per month) and increase the water base, and council members suggested a range of possible increases to test before a public hearing.

The discussion centered on multiple calculations and special-user charges. Scott (staff member) summarized current spreadsheet scenarios, saying one option would raise sewer from $24 to $34 — a $10 increase — but that left the fund roughly $91,000 short. Council members and staff discussed alternative approaches including raising sewer by $15 to $20 and raising water $5 to $8, and adding a multi-year schedule of smaller annual increases to avoid larger one-time jumps.

Councilmember Trevor A. Lee (District 16) raised concerns about large institutional users, saying, "The rec center for sure — they go through tons of water...and every single drop of that gets dumped into the sewer." Council members asked staff to verify the assigned equivalent residential units (ERUs) for local schools and other large users; staff and council noted apparent spreadsheet errors (a misplaced decimal in a school-per-student charge) and said the city needs to confirm the correct student counts used in the billing calculations.

Councilmembers and staff also asked that the analysis explicitly check three other revenue opportunities: the city's car washes, an RV dump station near the 7-11, and whether a $50,000 line in the budget goal represents impact-fee revenue rather than rate revenue. Scott said he would review the car washes and the 7-11 RV-dump account and clarify whether the $50,000 sewer goal item should be funded from the city's impact fee balance.

No formal rate change was adopted at the meeting. Scott told the council, "No. That's coming. Public hearing will be at the next meeting, and that's when we can take action. Tonight is really a discussion." Council members agreed to give staff time to verify counts and recalculations and return with a proposed rate schedule to advertise with the required public-hearing notice. Several council members suggested planning a 3–5 year rate schedule (for example, $1–$3 per month increases annually) so the city would not need annual hearings for small escalations.

Council members emphasized sensitivity to residents on fixed incomes while balancing the need to fund operations, maintenance, depreciation and future capital projects. Staff noted that continued summer pumping plans and additional power and maintenance costs will increase operating expenses, reinforcing the need to move the sewer fund toward positive operating results rather than the current deficit.

Next steps: staff will recalculate the proposals after verifying school counts, special-user ERUs, car-wash and RV-dump billing, and confirm impact-fee treatment. The council scheduled a public hearing for the proposed rate changes at the next regular meeting; no vote was taken at the current meeting.