On Dec. 8, the Anacortes City Council adopted Resolution 3193 to update the city’s unified fee schedule, changes that staff said will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

Finance staff (Miss Peck) explained the index basis and key changes. Because the October CPI figure was unavailable, staff used an August-over-August figure and reported an annual CPI increase of 2.8245 percent. Major fee changes included increasing the city utility tax from 7 percent to 9 percent, raising the storm base-rate component by $5 per month, and a residential sewer base rate increase to $53.05 (from $47.58). Staff demonstrated how those changes translate to household bills: for a sample customer the combined effect produced a $6.07 monthly increase, which staff summarized as a $5 base-rate increase, $0.59 from CPI and $0.48 from the city utility tax.

Miss Peck also explained an adjustment to commercial/industrial/government impact-fee rates identified during a parks-impact-fee study, and added a new garbage-tote cleaning fee of $25 for on-request service. She said the city had reviewed permit records from Jan. 1, 2024, through the present and found only one permit affected retroactively, with an estimated impact of about $6,600.

Council members asked about public notice and customer outreach; Miss Peck said, if the council approved the resolution, staff planned to include explanatory language on the back of utility bills in the next billing cycle and post details on the city website.

Miss Cleland McGrath moved to approve Resolution 3193; Mister Young seconded. The motion passed by voice vote and roll-call affirmation. Council members voting yes included Mister Walters, Miss Cleland McGrath, Miss Moulton, Miss Hubick, Mister Fantini, Mister Young and Mister Walters (recorded by Mister Franciak).