City staff proposes five-year pressurized-irrigation rate plan with tiered pricing; Council debates higher top-tier to curb overwatering

The Council received a staff presentation June 16 on a proposed five-year pressurized-irrigation rate schedule designed to move to metered, tiered pricing and encourage conservation.

Keith Larson reviewed the structure: a continuous base rate based on lot size with four usage tiers and progressively higher volume charges; the highest tier (Tier 4) begins at roughly 50,000 gallons and would reach approximately $5.16 per 1,000 gallons by the final phase-in year. Staff expects average usage to fall after metering (about a 30% reduction projected) and said the initial volume rates are intentionally set below full cost for the first year to ease the transition.

Council members debated whether Tier 4 should be set higher to more strongly deter excessive watering. Council Member Ernie John argued that customers using about 2.5 times Utah State University's recommended irrigation amount should face a stronger price signal. Mr. Larson said the structure is intended to comply with state tiered-rate requirements and that the highest tier may be set above cost of service to fund conservation measures; he described the initial phase-in rates as “training wheel” rates to allow customers time to adjust.

Council discussed implementation timing and communications: staff recommended adopting the schedule with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027 to give residents time to learn the new structure and use the online dashboard; some members urged more aggressive Tier 4 pricing later if monitoring shows persistent overwatering. Staff will prepare comparative data from neighboring cities and resident-communication materials before formal adoption.