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Wood Village adopts new utility rate structure and creates a flood safety fee effective Jan. 1, 2025
Summary
Councilers adopted Ordinance 6-2024 to add a flood safety benefit fee and approved a related resolution updating the master fee schedule effective Jan. 1, 2025. Staff said the fee stems from a state senate bill and estimated the city's share at about $36,000 annually.
The Wood Village City Council voted Oct. 8 to adopt changes to its utility rate structure and to create a separate flood safety benefit fee required by recent state action; the ordinance and companion resolution take effect Jan. 1, 2025.
Staff said the rate-structure changes are intended to be revenue-neutral while shifting more of the cost to higher-volume water users through volumetric charges and winter averaging. "The goal, for doing the rate structure model is for it to be revenue neutral," a staff presenter said. Under the proposal, sewer charges will better reflect sewage flows and the residential bill will vary more with usage, giving customers an incentive to conserve.
On the flood safety fee, staff said a state senate bill authorized Multnomah County to collect a flood-safety benefit and pass a portion to cities; staff estimated Wood Village's portion at about $36,000 and said the district's operating budget is roughly $16,000,000. Staff noted the statute caps future year increases at 3% or CPI. The council discussed billing display (a separate "flood safety fee" line item), outreach materials, and the city's decision not to collect an additional administrative fee for collecting the revenue.
Councilors then adopted Ordinance 6-2024 creating the flood safety benefit fee and passed Resolution 26-2024 adopting the updated master fee schedule for water, sewer and street utility fees, both effective Jan. 1, 2025.
