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Public works briefs council on 2024 Comprehensive Sewer Plan; staff warns of mandated CSO work and potential rate impacts
Summary
City staff told the council the 2024 Comprehensive Sewer Plan identifies 35 near-term and 36 long-term sewer projects (including Port Gardner CSO work) required by state regulators; staff warned the mandated projects, combined with construction-cost inflation, will push utility rates higher and outlined financing options and timing for project scheduling.
Public Works staff presented the 2024 Comprehensive Sewer Plan in a lengthy briefing Dec. 10, describing a multiyear planning process, system analysis and a prioritized list of capital improvements required across a 10- and 20-year horizon.
Amy Campbell (senior engineer, utility engineering) and Ryan Sause (Public Works) said Ecology approved the plan and that the plan integrates recent studies (treatment facility facility plan, CSO control plan) and nine months of temporary flow monitoring. The plan identifies 35 near-term and 36 long-term projects that include pipeline replacement, lift-station upgrades, storage vaults for combined sewer overflow (CSO) control and treatment-plant work.
Staff stressed that CSO compliance — including Port Gardner storage work — is a regulatory mandate with a 2027 compliance milestone and is driving a sizable portion of near-term capital work. "The mandated project of the combined sewer overflow control, Port Gardner storage, you know, 250 plus million that we are required to do by 2027 no matter what," a staff speaker said.
On financing and rate impacts, staff said the plan’s stacking of mandated projects and other CIP needs increases pressure on rates and borrowing; interest-rate changes and construction-cost escalation make the near-term financing challenge sharper. Staff estimated the funding picture shows higher rate increases in several years and said they are pursuing grant and low-interest federal loan programs where eligible.
Council members asked specific questions about separations of stormwater from sanitary sewers, tire-derived pollutants reaching treatment plants, the scale of shutoff notices tied to utility-billing practice, and whether some projects could be deferred without violating Ecology orders. Staff said some conveyance projects are ineligible for grant funding and must be paid through rates, while treatment-side projects are more likely to attract grants.
Why it matters: the plan frames the next decade of utility capital work and provides the financial model that will shape utility-rate proposals to come before council. Several council members raised concern about rate impacts on residents and asked staff to return with clarifying materials and a written summary of billing-notice scale and shutoff numbers.
Next steps: staff will incorporate comments, finalize project sequencing and return with recommended scheduling and funding strategies; council will consider rate ordinances and CIP adjustments in future budget cycles.
