Tonganoxie council delays vote on proposed water, sewer rate changes after concerns over steep sewer increase

TONGANOXIE — The Tonganoxie City Council on Monday delayed action on a consultant's utility rate proposal after hours of questioning about affordability, timing and the effect of a large industrial customer on future bills.

Dan Porter, the city's utilities staff lead, presented a draft rate analysis prepared by Carl Brown of gettinggreatrates.com that recommended Model 1 for both water and sewer. Porter said the consultant's Model 1 would increase water-related revenue by about 4% and sewer-related revenue by roughly 46%, driven largely by anticipated debt-service on a KDHE SRF loan that begins in 2027 and recent increases in disposal and energy costs. "Revenues are requested to increase by 4%" for water and "46%" for sewer, Porter said during the presentation.

Why it matters: The full sewer recommendation would translate to substantial year-over-year bill increases for many users. Staff proposed an alternative, "Option B," that phases the sewer change to reduce the immediate impact on households while preserving fund balance targets. Porter told the council that phasing the sewer increase with the full water adjustment would yield an approximate combined residential bill increase of about 12.6% under the draft scenario; a full Model 1 adoption would be closer to 25%.

Councilors repeatedly raised concerns about the effect on everyday ratepayers. "I have concerns about the level of increase to our standard users, just the folks who live day to day and need that water," said Councilmember Chris Donnelly. Councilmember Matt Partridge asked whether the expansion and resulting cost shifts were driven by a large customer the staff identified as Hills and warned about the optics of passing costs to residents.

Staff defended the analysis and explained the drivers. City manager George Brackovich and Porter said higher wholesale water charges, rising sludge disposal fees, added utility staffing and the KDHE-backed wastewater project contribute to the revenue need. Porter noted that the report and a recent KDHE loan analysis produced similar conclusions, giving staff greater confidence in the projections.

After extended discussion about fund-balance targets, the impact of growth and the practicality of the timing, the council sought more detail on fund-balance scenarios and how much of the increase would fall on different classes of customers. The council indicated consensus to postpone voting on the water and sewer ordinance and, later in the meeting, moved to table both the water/sewer and the trash/recycling ordinances until the Dec. 15 meeting to allow staff to provide more tailored impact analyses and give incoming council members time to review the materials.

What happens next: Staff said system development fee changes in the draft ordinance would take effect Dec. 12 if adopted, and that water and sewer rate changes were projected to appear on the February billing cycle (bills generated Jan. 30). Porter and Brackovich told the council they will return with more detailed fund-balance projections, customer-impact scenarios (including the phased Option B), and additional context about how the KDHE loan and major customers affect long-term costs.

Quote: "If Carl Brown's recommendation for Model 1 ... were adopted, that fund balance would grow," Porter said, arguing the consultant modeled a conservative reserve target; he added staff's phased alternative "gives us an opportunity to spread out that rate increase."

The council formally tabled the water and sewer and trash/recycling ordinances to the December 15 meeting to allow more time for review and refined data.