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Lawrence council approves tiered water and sewer rates for FY27 to bolster reserves and capital work
Summary
After a presentation by the Water & Sewer commissioner, the council approved a tiered water and sewer rate structure for FY2027 (with staged rates through FY2030) to stabilize the enterprise fund and fund capital projects including meter replacement and lead-service-line work.
The Lawrence City Council voted on May 19 to adopt a tiered water and sewer rate structure for fiscal year 2027 and set staged rates through 2030, after a detailed presentation from Water and Sewer Commissioner William Hale.
Hale told the council the enterprise fund faces rising expenses and that without rate adjustments retained earnings were projected to be negative by the end of FY27. The council heard a model showing that a tiered structure would keep essential, low-volume users at today's per-unit charge for the first tier while increasing charges for higher consumption tiers; the change is intended both to encourage conservation and to fund roughly $60 million in planned capital investments including commercial meter replacement, water-treatment-plant work, transmission-main projects and continued lead service-line replacement.
Under the proposal presented, Tier 1 usage (1'14 HCF; 1 HCF = 748 gallons) would remain at the current FY27 charge, while higher tiers would carry stepped increases. Hale said the tier design was intended to shift more of the cost burden to heavy users (including large commercial users) while protecting lower-use households; he told the council the plan results in approximately a 1% average rate increase compared with a no-action baseline and would restore reserve balances to recommended targets by 2030.
Councillors praised the department's outreach and materials; several members thanked Hale and his staff for detailed briefings and for sharing materials in advance. After questions, the council called the roll and the motion carried.
The council's action authorizes the tiered rate structure as presented to the council; the presentation and the rate tables shown to the council specify proposed per-HCF values for FY27 through FY30 for both water and sewer. The administration and the Water & Sewer Department will implement the new structure according to the schedule included in the FY27 rate proposal and report back to the council with implementation details.
What happens next: The approved rate tables will be implemented for FY27 billing as the department and city administration finalize billing and notice procedures; the council and administration indicated they will provide further outreach to customers and that the department will monitor revenue and reserve impacts during FY27.
