City council to vote on water rates

The Sisters City Council will consider a resolution to set new water rates at its regular meeting on Thursday, April 28.

The city council has been in sometimes-contentious discussions about water rates since last June. While there is general agreement that the water fund needs to be shored up, there has been disagreement about the scope of improvements to the water system, and some councilors have been reluctant to impose rate increases in the face of economic hardship.

A consensus reached at the city council's April 21 workshop produced a proposed resolution that would increase the base rate for all meter sizes by 4 percent and decrease the base consumption allowance from 1,337 to 1,000 cubic feet.

The overage rate of 99 cents per hundred cubic feet and the low-income overage rate of 74 cents per hundred cubic feet will remain the same. The overage rate is the amount applied to water used over the base consumption allowance.

"This starts the city down the road of encouraging water conservation in keeping with the city's newly adopted Water Management and Conservation Plan," stated City Manager Eileen Stein.

The public can weigh in on the proposal at the council meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at Sisters City Hall, 520 E. Cascade Ave.

According to city reports, for customers with a three-quarter-inch meter, the most common meter size, the base rate would increase from $19.80 to $20.59. The low-income rate for a three-quarter-inch meter would increase from $14.85 to $15.44.

Customers with one-inch and one-and-one-half-inch meters would pay a new base rate of $23.09, up from $22.20. The low-income rate for customers in this category would increase from $16.65 to $17.32. The base rate for a two-inch meter would increase from $24.60 to $25.58. The base rate for three-, four-, six- and eight-inch meters would increase from $60 to $62.40.

"The new rates are expected to raise sufficient revenue to create an operating contingency that will allow the city council to continue discussing the water fund capital improvement plan," stated Stein.

That plan identifies the need for approximately $675,000 worth of projects to be undertaken in the next few years, including upgrading the city's oldest well and upgrading old pipes to bring them up to standard and provide adequate fire flows.

The city council has spent considerable time debating the need for these projects and how to pay for them. The council is also considering a process for reviewing the engineering assumptions behind the plan.

According to Stein, this effort will be put on hold for the next several weeks as the council's focus shifts to reviewing the city budget for next year.

Customers who want to know how their monthly bill will change are encouraged to contact City Hall at 541-549-6022.