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Pasco officials present options that could nearly double residential water bills and sharply raise connection fees to pay for Butterfield plant replacement
Summary
City of Pasco staff outlined proposals to replace the aging Butterfield Treatment Plant that would raise the average residential water bill from about $33.91 to as much as $65.37 over four years under a full-replacement scenario and increase one-time connection fees for new builds (staff cited proposed maximums of about $6,148 for water and $4,583 for sewer).
City of Pasco staff said the city must replace the aging Butterfield water treatment plant and presented financing options that would substantially raise monthly water and sewer bills and one-time connection fees for new construction.
At a public briefing, Public Works Director Maria Serra and City Manager Harold Stewart described two main options: build a new Butterfield plant before retiring the old one (the staff’s lowest-construction-cost approach) or replace the plant in multiple phases. Staff estimated replacement costs in the briefing at roughly $220 million to $260 million and warned that construction inflation is uncertain.
“The Butterfield Treatment Plant is critical for us to have up and running 24/7,” the meeting moderator said in opening remarks. Maria Serra told the audience that Butterfield presently carries most of the city’s supply in peak months and that replacing it would preserve—but not increase—the system’s existing treatment capacity: “Butterfield replacement does not add capacity. It’s just ensuring that the capacity…
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