Pasco officials present options that could nearly double residential water bills and sharply raise connection fees to pay for Butterfield plant replacement

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 we have in that plant continues to be available,” Serra said.

Staff presented modeled rate paths for an average single-family residential account (current average cited by staff: $33.91). Under the deeper-replacement scenario staff showed projected averages rising to about $40.95, then $49.44, $59.70 and $65.37 over four years. In the phased (three-stage) scenario staff showed a somewhat different path, with an illustrative projection rising to roughly $64.37 by 2029. Staff emphasized these are model projections subject to change with inflation and financing.

The staff brief also examined the effect of grant funding and low-interest loans on customer bills. Using an $80 million low-interest loan in the model, staff said the 2029 projection would fall to about $60.51 from $65.37. Moderator and staff said they will pursue federal and state grants and low-cost financing where available, but noted the current funding environment is constrained.

Connection fees for new service were a second focus. Staff said the existing average water connection fee is about $866 and that the proposed maximum in their model was about $6,148 (fees vary by meter size). For sewer, staff said current fees are around $1,828 with a proposed maximum near $4,583. The city described the connection fee methodology as two parts: an existing-cost basis (what current customers have already paid for existing infrastructure) and a future-cost basis (growth-driven facilities).

A brief exchange clarified past funding totals: the moderator suggested the city had secured ‘nearly half a billion’ in grants and loans historically; Maria Serra corrected that staff had obtained a little less than that and said the figure is “over $230,000,000” in grants and low-interest loans overall.

City Manager Harold Stewart framed the issue historically, saying Butterfield dates to the 1930s and that federal funding that supported such builds in the New Deal era is largely no longer available. “That federal funding isn’t available to us,” Stewart said, adding that replacing a treatment plant is heavily regulated and time consuming.

Maria Serra provided system-capacity figures: staff reported total water treatment capacity of about 34,000,000 gallons per day with current use around 28,000,000 gallons per day (about 82% used), leaving capacity equivalent to roughly 7,200 equivalent residential units before additional expansions would be needed. For sewer, staff cited the wastewater treatment plant capacity as about 9,500,000 gallons per day and noted staffing increases in the proposed sewer budget to improve maintenance and regulatory posture.

No formal vote was taken at the briefing. Staff said its report—including the detailed rate model and outreach materials—will be on the Jan. 20 council agenda for council consideration. Recordings and briefing materials from this meeting and earlier Nov. 10 and Nov. 17 sessions are posted on the City of Pasco’s project web page, staff said.

What’s next: the council is scheduled to discuss and potentially act on staff’s recommendations at its regular meeting on Jan. 20; staff requested public feedback beforehand via the project web page.