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City staff propose shifting water costs to volumetric rates to ease base-rate pressure
Summary
CFO Lee Wallace proposed lowering the share of fixed water costs recovered through the base charge (from 65% to 50%) and increasing recovery through volumetric tiers to reduce base-rate increases; staff modeled a baseline 9% annual water‑minimum increase versus a proposed ~4% base increase with higher volumetric increases, and the Water Advisory Board recommended the shift 4–1.
Lee Wallace, the city’s chief financial officer, presented a draft change to water‑utility fiscal policy that would lower the minimum fixed‑cost recovery collected through the base charge and shift more recovery to volumetric (tiered) rates.
Wallace said the city’s preliminary five‑year forecast shows fixed costs rising from roughly $64,000,000 in 2025 to about $138,000,000 in 2030 because of capital projects and water‑supply obligations. "We are proposing that we change the policy from 65% through the base rate to 50% through the base rate and 90% through the base rate and first tier to 75%," Wallace said, explaining model scenarios through 2030.
Staff modeling shows the…
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