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Connell keeps CPI-based automatic water-rate adjustments, council votes
Summary
Council voted to retain the policy that lets water rates increase annually tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W), keeping staff-recommended Option 1 and avoiding a separate rate hearing for this year's allowable 2.9% adjustment.
Connell City Council voted to retain its existing policy that ties allowable annual water-rate adjustments to the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners (CPI‑W), preserving staff’s recommendation that the city apply automatic CPI-based increases rather than requiring separate council action for this year's allowable adjustment.
Theresa, a city staff member who led the presentation, said the city’s policy (resolution 2023‑07) allows up to a 3% increase without separate council approval and that the CPI‑based calculation for the year would permit about a 2.9% adjustment. She said the resolution was intended to smooth increases after a large 8% adjustment in 2022 and to avoid imposing a large one-time jump on utility customers.
Council discussed whether to allow automatic annual CPI adjustments or require council review each year. After a motion to adopt Option 1 (automatic CPI-linked increases), the council voted to keep the CPI-based approach. Staff noted sewer rates are handled separately and no sewer increase was proposed at this meeting.
The decision keeps the city’s approach of tying small, annual increases to inflation measures rather than executing a larger one-time increase; council members may revisit the policy at a later date if they choose.
