Westminster task force recommends new tiered water rates to shield basic indoor use

The Westminster City Council on July 6 received a report from the Water Affordability for Every Resident Task Force recommending a redesigned rate structure intended to make essential indoor water use more affordable while preserving utility revenue for maintenance, debt service and capital projects.

The task force, which met seven times and worked with the city’s rate consultants, proposed splitting the current first tier so that the basic indoor allocation would be 0–4,000 gallons per month (the typical winter indoor use for a single‑family household), creating an additional conservation tier for higher users and carving out a separate four‑tier class for multifamily customers. “Affordable basic water is your essential indoor water use,” task force member Kevin Kinnear said in the presentation, summarizing the group’s guiding principle.

Why it matters: The recommendation is designed to reduce water bills for low‑volume users (the task force’s examples showed a small decrease for a typical 4,000‑gallon household) while increasing prices on higher‑use accounts to maintain the utility’s ability to pay for operations, capital improvements and reserves. The report also identified potential inequities between single‑family and multifamily billing and recommended additional study and a separate multifamily rate class to address that gap.

What the task force recommended: - Change from a three‑tier to a four‑tier rate structure for single‑family customers, with the first tier covering roughly average indoor use (0–4,000 gallons/month). - Create a multifamily customer class with four tiers (0–3,000; 3–6,000; 6–9,000; >9,000 gallons per customer monthly) to better reflect typical multifamily consumption patterns. - Preserve reliable utility income to cover O&M, debt service and capital projects while prioritizing affordable basic indoor use. - Pursue “sidecar” items: study water‑budget‑based rates, strengthen customer assistance programs and consider making the task force a permanent advisory body.

The task force illustrated impacts with sample bills: under the proposals, a typical single‑family household’s water‑consumption portion could fall slightly (example: from $16.80 to about $16.64 for basic indoor use), while the largest users would see a proportionally larger increase. Kinnear said the recommended rate levels would be in place for the two‑year rate window the city typically uses, with follow‑up evaluation afterward.

Council questions and next steps: Council members probed the assumptions behind the model, asked for more transparent financial statements (including a statement of cash flows) and pressed staff on consultant costs. Councilor Ireland said she had asked for a cash‑flow style analysis to understand where utility revenues are being used; staff committed to provide additional documentation. City Manager Andrews and Deputy City Manager Barbara O’Keefe emphasized the city’s commitment to transparency and noted staff had posted task force materials and reports on the city website.

The council did not take a rate vote on July 6. Instead, staff and the task force were asked to return on Aug. 3 for a follow‑up study session that will include detailed financial documentation and options for council direction. Kinnear and several task force members remained on record urging a balance between affordability and the system’s long‑term financial stability.