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Wellington trustees weigh residents'' advisory group's plan to reshape water, wastewater and stormwater rates
Summary
A residents advisory group and consultant recommended removing a 3,000-gallon minimum, lowering the base fee and flattening tiered charges so most customers pay closer to the actual cost of water; trustees asked staff for annualized bill impacts before votes scheduled in February and an implementation date of April 1 was discussed.
The Wellington Board of Trustees heard Wednesday from a residents advisory group (RAG) and consultant Raftelis on a proposed overhaul of the town''s water, wastewater and stormwater rates that would shift how costs are distributed among low-, middle- and high-volume customers.
The advisory group recommended removing the 3,000-gallon minimum allowance embedded in the base charge, lowering the monthly base fee (the group used an example dropping the base from about $54.81 to roughly $22), charging for the first gallons actually used, widening the middle-tier threshold and moving the top "excessive-use" tier to begin at 35,000 gallons. A RAG presenter said the aim was to reduce cross-subsidies and align charges more closely with the cost of delivering water.
The change would reduce bills for very low users but raise bills for many mid-range users. "We've worked towards a fair and balanced rate structure," a residents advisory group presenter said during the meeting. The consultant, Todd Cristiano of Raftelis, said the study was intended to promote "financial sustainability, equity and long-term planning" and explained the cost-of-service approach used to allocate costs across customer classes.
On financial timing, staff and Raftelis proposed three options: adopt the RAG structure in 2026 (which would rebalance bills but not add a revenue increase in the first year), delay structural changes to 2028 while keeping revenue neutral in the near term, or retain the existing structure. Raftelis''s five-year financial model showed using reserves to moderate near-term increases; it listed a target reserve of about $1.5 million and noted unrestricted reserves that staff could draw on to reduce immediate bill shocks.
The consultant also outlined revenue recommendations for other utilities: the wastewater plan included a near-term larger revenue adjustment (an example sequence cited 18% in 2026 then smaller increases later) and stormwater projections factored in a major cash-funded Clark Reservoir dredging and a proposed $5 million bond for regional projects. Staff noted the Box Elder Basin regional stormwater authority fees are expected to be removed and that the town would replace that revenue in 2026 to fund local stormwater capital needs.
Trustees pressed on likely household impacts. Mayor Pro Tem (Trustee Mason) shared a spreadsheet extrapolation of 48,660 single-family bills issued annually and said about two-thirds of those bills would increase under the example structure while roughly 31% would decrease. "66% of bills would in fact see a increase," Mason said, noting that the analysis counted bills, not unique customers. Trustee Daley and other trustees argued the change corrects long-standing cross-subsidies and that residents should "pay their own way." Trustee Mason and others asked staff to evaluate adjusting the upper-tier threshold (for example moving the top breakpoint to 25,000–30,000 gallons) if that could meet revenue needs while reducing the number of households facing steep increases.
Staff committed to produce annualized bill-impact scenarios for representative household types and for potable versus non-potable irrigation ahead of a January work session. The board was told draft rates will be presented Feb. 10 with public comment and returned Feb. 24 for consideration of adoption; staff said any adopted changes would be timed to take effect April 1 to align with the town''s billing cycle.
No formal vote or adoption occurred at the work session. Questions remain about final tier thresholds and how to phase changes to minimize customer confusion; trustees asked staff to deliver clear annualized and combined-bill examples (water, wastewater and stormwater together) before formal action.
What''s next: staff will prepare the requested annualized bill impacts (single-family potable and non-potable examples, multifamily and commercial scenarios) for the board packet ahead of the Jan. 20 work session; Raftelis will present more detailed draft rates Feb. 10, followed by a Feb. 24 adoption vote that, if approved, would take effect April 1.
