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Council hears public works budget; staff detail water rate increases and staffing needs
Summary
Public Works presented the 2027 budget including staffing for a new drinking water plant, wastewater operations, and a proposed 6% water rate increase for FY27; councilors requested additional modeling on revenue elasticity, conservation effects and longer historical data.
Public Works presented proposed FY2027 budgets and rate proposals and answered council questions focused on infrastructure funding, staffing and customer impacts.
Jimmy Knight, Public Works administration division director, said the water fund projects roughly $21 million in revenue and the wastewater fund roughly $28 million. Staff described staffing requests tied to the new drinking water plant (positions phased as the plant comes online) and a need for additional collections/operators to improve sewer maintenance and reduce emergency repairs.
On rates, staff described a proposed 6% overall revenue increase for FY2027 achieved by adjusting each rate component and implementing meter‑size tiers (meter size rather than pure consumption). The council asked for details on the tier structure and dollar‑amount impacts on representative customer classes; one council member noted that the rate schedule displays multi‑year increases that would substantially raise average water charges over time and asked for margin and elasticity modeling.
Staff said consultants incorporated industry assumptions about demand elasticity and that the model anticipates some consumption reductions but still reaches target revenue thresholds. Council members requested regression or scenario modeling that accounts for local conservation patterns and year‑to‑year climate variation; staff agreed to provide more granular data and historical comparisons for 2024–2025 consumption and revenue.
Other Public Works items: the department requested two full‑time streets maintenance workers (to replace contracted work), a compost‑yard attendant to extend composting hours (funded by revising a per‑account rooftop fee), and continuing replacement of end‑of‑life central storage hardware (information systems had earlier flagged a ~$410,000 replacement need). Sanitation staff explained an equipment replacement strategy that cycles one heavy truck per year to reduce maintenance costs.
Councilors repeatedly asked staff to provide the revenue models and underlying assumptions so the council can weigh conservation impacts against infrastructure needs before approving multi‑year rate escalations.
Next steps: Public Works will provide the detailed rate model, tier dollar amounts and multi‑year projections, plus data on meter‑size tiering and historical usage so the council can evaluate the proposal before any formal rate adoption process.
