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Cresco council votes for 4% water and 4% sewer increase; staff to draft ordinances
Summary
After debating budget risk and projected customer impacts, the council voted to raise water and sewer rates by 4% each and directed staff to draft the necessary ordinances for formal readings at the next meeting.
Cresco City Council voted on May 4 to approve a 4% increase to both water and sewer rates and instructed staff to draft ordinances for formal readings at an upcoming meeting.
City administration presented two rate scenarios and the estimated effect on customers. Under the 4%/4% option staff said a minimum utility bill would rise by $2.36; the alternative (2% water / 4% sewer) would raise it by about $2.15. Administrator Nikki (Speaker 2) said the city has been operating “just a little bit” in the red on water and that the 4/4 scenario would reduce the risk of ongoing shortfalls given uncertainty about large new water users and fuel-surcharge impacts.
Council members debated whether to take the larger increase now or adopt a smaller rise and revisit the issue. One councilor voiced support for the smaller 2/4 option citing customer impacts; the council ultimately approved the 4/4 proposal in a roll-call vote (recorded result: yes 4, no 1). The mayor/chair asked staff to draft ordinance language to implement the change and schedule readings at the next meeting.
The council’s approval is a policy decision; the formal rate-change ordinance must be presented, read and published according to statutory notice requirements, after which the new rates will take effect on the schedule specified in the ordinance. Staff noted an outstanding fuel-surcharge calculation is pending from the utility vendor and that final ordinances will reflect any updated surcharge information when available.
