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City hears water and sewer impact‑fee study showing a large wastewater increase
Summary
A consultant told the council that water fees would rise modestly while wastewater impact fees are projected to increase substantially because of a planned sewer‑treatment expansion; the council scheduled further public review with a July 15 workshop.
Bridal Manse of Governance presented the city’s water and sewer impact‑fee study at the June 17 workshop, saying the analysis ties capital costs for existing installed capacity to growth and excludes grant‑funded or cost‑free infrastructure from the calculations.
Manse said the city's level‑of‑service standard used in the study (presented in the materials as 204 gallons per day) was applied to capital improvement program costs to determine the per‑unit fee. "As far as our calculation methodology is concerned, we considered the cost of the existing installed capacity that's available to serve growth," Manse said.
The consultant recommended adopting the proposed water and sewer fees; the presentation showed a modest proposed increase for water (about 3 percent) and a much larger calculated increase for wastewater. Manse attributed the wastewater jump primarily to significant increases in the cost of sewer‑treatment capacity and the city's need to expand its sewer treatment plant.
Manse told the council that impact fees help support the principle of growth paying for growth and can reduce the need for future monthly user‑rate increases; she recommended updating fees when capital plans, costs or funding materially change. The presentation materials also compared Edgewater's proposed water and sewer fees with nearby utilities and showed Edgewater's proposed levels as generally competitive.
A council member stressed for the record that the roughly 47 percent figure cited in the presentation refers to the impact‑fee increase and is paid by developers at permit time — not a change to monthly utility bills. The chair replied, "Correct." Manse told the council that if impact fees are not adopted, staff would need to reassess user‑rate adjustments to accommodate projected capital costs.
No final action was taken at the workshop; consultants and staff scheduled a second public workshop for July 15 and presented an anticipated ordinance schedule for August and September.
