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Hermiston council adopts 2.34% water and sewer rate increase; industrial sewer billing method changed
Summary
The Hermiston City Council unanimously approved Resolution 2401, raising water and sewer rates 2.34% (average residential increase about $2.72 per month) and changing industrial sewer billing to charge industrial customers based on the single highest monthly BOD sample rather than an average.
The Hermiston City Council on Jan. 13 adopted Resolution 2401, updating the master fee schedule and approving a 2.34% increase in water and sewer rates that staff said will average roughly $2.72 per month for the median residential customer.
City utilities presenter Mark Morgan said the increase is driven by a three‑year running average of construction‑industry inflation used in the city’s rate‑setting policy. "Because we had two years of relatively low inflation, that puts our three‑year running average at 2.34% — so that's what we're recommending for this year," Morgan said.
Morgan also explained a separate change to industrial sewer billing aimed at matching charges to peak demands on the treatment plant. Currently the city averages up to 10 BOD samples a month for its single industrial account; the proposed policy would retain sampling but bill that customer based on the highest sampled BOD reading in the month to reflect peak capacity needs. Morgan said one‑off random samples taken last year produced readings nearly 20 times higher than routine sampling and "would have resulted in a bill of around $200,000," compared with a typical monthly bill for that customer of about $10,000.
Council members questioned benchmarking methods and sampling frequency. Councilor Ernest Hayward asked whether comparisons to the Tri‑Cities accounted for irrigation water use; Morgan said the chart compared city potable water only. Councilor Brown questioned the use of the median rather than the mean; Morgan said the median better represents a "typical" monthly customer in Hermiston's distribution.
The council moved to adopt Resolution 2401 (motion moved by Councilor McCarthy and seconded by Councilor Hayward) and approved it by unanimous roll call. According to staff, the across‑the‑board 2.34% adjustment is scheduled to take effect March 1. Industrial billing changes were presented as recommended to be effective Jan. 1 to give the city and the affected industrial customer time to work on process or pretreatment changes.
Morgan told councilors staff intends to work with the named industrial customer — identified during the presentation as Columbia Basin Bioscience, the CBD processing facility at the former Hermiston Foods site — to mitigate peak discharges on the company’s property before the new billing method takes effect.
The council did not amend the resolution; staff will implement the new master fee schedule and return as needed on enforcement or operational issues.
