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Food processors warn proposed PWRF rate increases are unsustainable as city reviews $4.5M–$5.6M shortfall
Summary
City staff reported the Process Water Reuse Facility ran a large deficit in 2025 and projected a possible multi-million-dollar shortfall in 2026; local food processors told council previously adopted rate hikes and modeled increases are untenable and urged the city to pursue contract negotiations and use of federal tax-credit proceeds rather than pushing costs onto customers.
City staff told the Pasco City Council on Wednesday night that the Process Water Reuse Facility (PWRF) has not performed to financial projections following a 2023'2025 expansion and the first year of operation under a new rate model. Staff reported 2025 actuals produced a material gap that required reserve use and said updated projections showed a potential cumulative shortfall in 2026 unless alternatives are implemented.
Public Works Director Sarah described the plant as a public-private partnership in which the city owns portions of the system while a private partner (identified in staff materials as the biological-treatment operator) runs the biological-treatment and renewable-natural-gas (RNG) components under a 30-year wastewater-treatment agreement. Director Sarah said drivers of the shortfall include higher-than-projected third-party O&M costs, lower-than-expected RNG revenue and permit changes that altered billed volumes.
Staff said the ordinance-approved rate model for 2025 had set new charges (flow, BOD, TSS and storage components) that went into effect in January 2025; 2025…
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