Buckeye staff propose phased multi‑year water and sewer rate increases to fund asset reinvestment

Terry Lowe, City of Buckeye water resources director, told attendees at the second of three public open‑house meetings that the city is proposing a multiyear water and wastewater rate plan aimed at restoring long‑term asset reinvestment and maintaining service levels. "We do not collect any tax revenue," Lowe said, noting the utilities operate as enterprise funds that must recover personnel, supplies, debt service and capital projects through rates alone.

The proposal, developed with the Water Rates Committee (WRC) after seven or eight meetings, would shift the city to a predictable multiyear cycle and adopt several structural changes: streamline base rates by meter size, add a smaller meter category for 3/4‑inch services, eliminate the sewer volumetric charge in favor of a flat sewer rate, and remove a $3.05 flat fee by folding it into the base charge. Lowe described a "gradualism" approach to phase increases over time rather than imposing a single large one, with staff modeling…