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Council signals support for modest MCI-based stormwater rate increase
Summary
Staff presented three options to address stormwater inflation; council coalesced around staff's recommendation of a year-over-year MCI adjustment (Option 1) that would raise the average stormwater bill by about $1.76 annually and generate roughly $80,000 a year.
Assistant City Manager Kaye Love outlined three options to account for inflation in the stormwater utility for the 2026 billing cycle: a year-over-year change in the Municipal Cost Index (MCI) that would raise the average bill about 2.52% (about $1.76 per year, from $69.60 to $71.36) and generate roughly $80,000 annually; a three-year MCI average (about 1.7%); and a catch-up comprehensive increase (about 14.84%, roughly $10.33 per average bill). Love recommended the year-over-year MCI approach so the utility builds recognition of cost increases without expanding services.
Multiple councilmembers — including the mayor, Erin and others — voiced support for option 1 for transparency and predictability. The mayor said the index approach gives residents visibility on rates, and members asked staff to emphasize communications if a rate adjustment is implemented. Staff cautioned that even the indexed increase will only generate a modest fraction of the $4 million inflationary delta staff noted in program estimates and recommended further analysis on staffing and capital-seeding options before pursuing catch-up increases.
