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Montrose council opens 2025 budget talks with proposals to raise water and sewer rates
Summary
Council members began discussing options to raise water, sewer and storm utility rates for 2025, weighing phased base-rate hikes and per-thousand usage increases to fund capital needs while expressing concern about affordability for residents.
The City of Montrose City Council opened its 2025 preliminary budget discussion Aug. 19 with a detailed conversation about raising utility rates to pay for looming capital needs.
Council member (S2) presented rate scenarios, including a phased 5% annual increase across water, sewer and storm utilities and options to raise fixed base rates and per-thousand usage charges. Staff noted a 5% across-the-board change would raise the average bill by about $5.68. Council members discussed a target per‑thousand sewer rate of $7.41 suggested during the meeting as a benchmark to reach parity with neighboring jurisdictions.
Speakers stressed trade-offs between rapid increases to catch up on deferred needs and the hardship sudden hikes would impose on residents. Council member (S1) cautioned against a single large jump that could be politically and socially difficult, saying residents might react strongly. Council member (S4) urged more immediate action, stating, “This Band Aid just needs to come off right now,” arguing that steady, predictably increasing rates are preferable to repeated short-term fixes. Mayor Console said staff must present clear plans for what the revenue will cover and reiterated the need to avoid repeated deferrals that would compound future costs.
Council members discussed using Local Government Allocation (LGA) receipts (noting two $46,000 LGA installments discussed in the meeting) and the timing of a separate water-treatment conversation planned for late October. No final rate decision was made; council asked staff for more detailed scenarios, an affordability impact analysis for households, and suggested phasing options so residents can anticipate future changes.
The council will continue the budget discussion and expects staff to return with refined rate proposals and impact estimates before finalizing the 2025 budget.
