Kanosh council debates raising base water rate and restructuring tiers to build reserves

Council members conducted an extended review of town water finances and a staff proposal to increase the monthly base rate and change tier thresholds to generate more revenue for maintenance and capital repairs.

Town staff presented pricing scenarios that would raise the base monthly charge and shift the number of gallons included in the base tier (the staff draft reduced the base‑tier allowance to 8,000 gallons and increased per‑gallon charges for higher tiers). Staff said the goal is twofold: (1) produce steady annual revenue to build a sinking fund for aging water infrastructure and repairs and (2) reduce incentives that make higher volumes cheaper per gallon.

Councilmember David Whitaker and others said they support increasing the base rate but recommended keeping the 10,000‑gallon threshold (instead of the proposed 8,000 gallons) to reduce impacts on low‑volume, fixed‑income households. Councilmembers noted surrounding communities charge significantly more for comparable volumes, and staff referenced a rural water consultant (impact fee study) that modeled revenue scenarios; the council asked staff to provide the consultant’s spreadsheet and full usage dataset for review. Staff reported that current water revenue runs roughly $150,000 per year and that town warrants and repairs total about $53,000 per year (based on 26 months of warrant data), creating pressure to raise reserves.

Discussion covered tradeoffs — conservation incentives vs. fairness to low‑use households — and technical questions about how many customers currently use which tiers (staff said about 60% of customers use under 6,000 gallons/month). Council members asked staff to return with revised options that use the consultant’s model and include a goal such as $50,000 per year to set aside for system replacement. No ordinance was introduced or adopted at this meeting; the council said any change would require an ordinance and public notice.