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Residents say fire-line fee increases are steep; council defers Department of Public Utilities fee-schedule correction
Summary
At a public hearing the Department of Public Utilities asked the council to adopt a correction to the consolidated fee schedule; residents said unpublished rates led to a 740% increase on one bill. The council closed the hearing and deferred action to a future meeting.
The Salt Lake City Council received a public hearing Jan. 13 on an ordinance proposed by the Department of Public Utilities to correct the Salt Lake City Consolidated Fee Schedule (CFS). Austin Kimel, a council policy analyst, said the correction would add a missing "fire line per inch" title/description to the water rate table and that customers would be credited for the per-inch portion of fire-line fees paid from July 1, 2025, until the correction is adopted.
Scott Narris, a board member of the Harvard Park Homeowners Association, told the council his neighborhood discovered a fire-line fee increase of 740% on an August utility bill for a private fire line. Narris alleged DPU had been charging customers unpublished, unapproved rates and said the ordinance and budget process contained procedural failures. He asked the council to table the proposal until the council could review information he had submitted, including GRAMA records and a summary of ongoing concerns.
After the comment period a council member moved to close the public hearing and defer action to a future council meeting; the motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
What happens next: The council deferred final action; Austin Kimel had noted a tentative vote date of Jan. 20 for the corrected language, but the council's motion postpones adoption pending further review and staff follow-up.
