Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities Water And Sewer topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Newport City Council approves 36% water and 27% sewer rate increases, adopts interim budget fixes
Summary
The Newport City Council on April 30 approved a water and sewer budget and temporary rate increases—36% for water and 27% for sewer—effective May 1, 2025, to prevent deficit spending in FY25-26. The council also approved a 5% capital-reserve start and directed a deeper "phase 2" review of budgets, meters and long-term liabilities.
The Newport City Council voted April 30 to adopt a water and sewer budget prepared by its Water & Sewer Task Force and to raise water rates 36% and sewer rates 27%, effective for the billing period beginning May 1, 2025. Council member John Minette moved the water-rate motion; the council approved both rate motions by voice vote, with the first billing that reflects the changes scheduled to be sent in August and due in September under the cityquarterly billing cycle.
The task forcerecommended the increases as a temporary, Phase 1 measure to stop deficit spending for FY25-26 while the council pursues a deeper Phase 2 review. Paul Theis, a member of the Water & Sewer Task Force, told the council the group had reallocated misclassified line items (for example, moving a $25,000 water-meter line from the sewer budget into the water budget), removed an item for a Vactor/vac truck from the operating budgets, and added a 5% capital-reserve contribution to begin rebuilding reserves.
The task force said the water budget grew after the group added an estimated $195,000 for the initial payback on the new water tower, bringing the proposed water budget to roughly $1.15 million. The 5% capital-reserve addition was presented as approximately $82,000 across the funds for the coming fiscal year.
Residents and council members pressed the task force on line-item accuracy and the distribution of payroll charges. Anne, a resident who reviewed the packet line-by-line, flagged what she described as an undercount of FICA/Social Security in the sewer budget(line 109) and said the FICA allocation appeared to be $5,000 when she estimated it should be roughly $17,000 once overtime, vacation, and pay-related charges are properly grouped. The council accepted that further corrections belong in Phase 2 and instructed staff and the task force to reconcile payroll and contract-pay entries during the deeper review.
Council members and task-force members emphasized metering as a high priority. The task force reported the city is about 58% metered now, leaving roughly 42% of accounts unmetered; getting meters installed and accounting for nonmetered customers is a core part of Phase 2 work. "If we get the meters in, that can help us determine if we're pumping more water out of the wells than we need to, if there's system loss," Theis said. The council also discussed options for delinquent accounts, including payment plans and more aggressive collection tools short of shutoffs.
Council President Kevin Charbonneau framed the vote as stopping fiscal bleeding: "These measures should get us to within spinning distance of a balanced budget for FY25-26," he said, while cautioning the council that the action does not resolve the historic accumulated deficit.
What happens next: the council approved the Phase 1 budget and rates to prevent immediate deficit spending but directed the task force and staff to pursue a Phase 2 review over the next 4 to 8 weeks. Phase 2 will include a comprehensive audit of line items, a plan and timeline for metering the remaining accounts, and options for addressing the long-term accumulated deficit, which may include potential borrowing or other structural solutions.
