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Stewartville council approves modest 2025 utility rate plan tied to capital needs
Summary
The Stewartville City Council approved a plan of modest 3% year‑over‑year utility rate increases for 2025 after staff said the changes are intended to keep capital funds healthy; the move passed on a voice vote.
The Stewartville City Council approved a planned set of utility rate increases for 2025, adopting a proposal staff said was intended to align revenues with capital‑plan needs.
The council voted to approve a general 3% increase across utility rates and staff called out specific changes: “Sewer rates increased 21¢ per unit, 3% raise,” and a 42¢ increase on a minimum water bill for residential or commercial accounts, according to the meeting record. The transcript also records a storm fee increase described in the meeting as “15.15 cents per living unit.” The council did not provide an alternate dollar figure during discussion.
Speaker 1, who introduced the proposal, framed the increases as part of multi‑year capital planning developed with staff and consultant Mike Hubay: “These 3% increases are based on the capital planning that was done with Mike Hubay,” the transcript records. Speaker 5 and Speaker 4 explained the approach as a strategy to spread small, predictable increases annually rather than making larger adjustments every few years. “We plan on that, especially for the … start of doing the plan 3% from year to year,” Speaker 5 said.
Councilors asked no detailed follow‑up about the calculation of the storm fee during the meeting. Staff emphasized that the proposed increases would maintain positive fund balances for utility operations and capital projects and that the impact on a household’s total bill would be modest: the city presented example impacts (two‑unit billing up about 57¢; three units about $1.53; four units about $1.94; five units about $2.35).
The council voted by voice to approve the 2025 utility rate plan. The action was described as a routine step to implement the capital plan; no amendments or conditions to the motion are recorded in the transcript. The council also directed residents to ask finance staff for more detail if needed and to attend upcoming finance meetings where budget details will be reviewed.
The city is scheduled to continue budget work at the Truth in Taxation meeting and staff signaled they will provide more detailed budget and year‑end information at that time.
