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Council discusses $1 base-rate increase to fund cell-enabled meters and tier smoothing for water conservation
Summary
Staff presented a proposal to add a $1 monthly base charge to fund cell-enabled meters and a customer dashboard, and to slightly adjust mid-tier rates; council discussed equity for fixed‑income residents, conservation incentives, rollout timing (500 meters targeted for fall) and the need for outreach.
City utilities staff presented a proposal May 20 to modify North Logan's culinary water-fee schedule: an across-the-board $1 increase to the monthly base rate to fund cell-enabled meters and a customer dashboard, plus modest increases to mid-to-high usage tiers.
Zach, the utilities presenter, described the customer benefits of cell meters and a dashboard, including 15-minute usage data and faster leak detection. "That user dashboard will allow a lot of things like the homeowner can set it's their own alarms," Zach said, adding that initial deployment would target about 500 meters in a neighborhood-by-neighborhood rollout beginning this fall. He said the $1 base-rate change is intended to cover per-meter monthly costs while maintaining protections for fixed-income residents.
Councilmembers generally supported conservation incentives but raised questions about equity and communication. One council member noted the city has the lowest total water bill for the average resident but that high users face higher marginal costs under the tiered system. Staff said fixed-income residents would be largely protected and that staff would provide neighborhood-level usage examples, social-media education, and a pilot timeline before returning for formal approval.
No formal vote was taken; staff will return with more detailed cost/implementation data and a formal request for rate changes.
