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Osage City council directs staff to draft 25% sewer-rate increase after EPA consent order
Summary
After presentations from Kansas Municipal Utilities and the project's engineer, the council voted 7-1 to direct staff to prepare an ordinance increasing sewer rates 25% effective Dec. 1, 2026, to fund EPA-required repairs; Council Member Joe Ryan voted no.
Osage City Council members voted May 12 to direct staff to prepare an ordinance to raise sewer rates by 25%, effective December 1, 2026, to help fund sewer-collection and treatment repairs required under an EPA consent order. The motion was made by Council Member Jeff Tice and seconded by Council Member Mike Gilliland and carried 7-1, with Council Member Joe Ryan recorded as dissenting.
Beth Warren, Water Services Financial Specialist with Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU), presented the study showing the revenue shortfall tied to completed and planned repairs and explained that further work required by the EPA could require additional future rate adjustments. Burns & McDonnell engineer Waldo Margheim described the EPA consent order timeline that the City must meet to bring the sewer system into compliance.
Council did not adopt an ordinance at the meeting; the vote directs staff to prepare the ordinance language using "Version C" from the KMU analysis and to return it for formal consideration. City Manager Katie Hodge said she will continue pursuing funding alternatives to mitigate rate increases.
The motion language recorded in the minutes directs staff "to prepare an ordinance to increase sewer rates by 25%, effective December 1, 2026, in accordance with Version C of the sewer rate analysis presented by Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU)." The motion carried 7-1 (Joe Ryan opposed). The Council did not set final ordinance wording or final reading at the May 12 meeting.
