WALDPORT – Water is going to cost more for Waldport residents starting July 1 , especially this summer.
The Waldport city council Thursday voted unanimously to raise water and wastewater rates by a combined 8.9 percent which is expected to add $10.22 to the bill of the average resident who uses 3,000 or more gallons of water a month.
The increase is designed to keep up with inflation and put money into water and sewer reserves for future capital projects. It is effective July 1.
But there will some extra pain for some residents this summer.
Sewer charges are separate but mirror a customer’s water use. In the past, the city did not charge sewer customers during the summer based on their possible greater use of water, figuring that a lot of it went onto lawns and gardens and not into the wastewater system. Instead, it used an average of water consumption during winter months, city manager Dann Cutter told the council Thursday, resulting in an artificially lower sewer bill for many customers of about $5 to $10 a month.
But with the city changing its billing system this summer and the idea that it should not be encouraging water use during the driest time of year, Cutter asked the council to not give customers the summer sewer break this year. He estimated the program costs the city $20,000 to $40,000 a year – and not implementing it this summer would allow the city to use the new billing system get a more accurate picture of its cost.
“Information is good, so if this is costing the city a lot of money, we need to know that,” he said, estimating it would cost someone who heavily waters their lawn or garden $5-10 more a month.
The council voted 4-1 to OK the change, with Michelle Severson voting no. Mayor Greg Holland and councilor Rick Booth were absent.
The council also awarded a $1.3 million contract to Pacific Excavation of Albany to construct a 300,000 gallon water tank on city property off Nelson Wayside Road. The tank will be used to store water when it takes its 2 million gallon tank offline next year to re-line its interior. The new tank is fully being paid for by a state grant received last year.
The City of Waldport reads water meters year around, and water usage is billed according to the amount used. Only the sewer usage is adjusted: rather than being billed for the same number of units as water used, the sewer bill is adjusted to a customer’s average water use during the rest of the year.