MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Your water, sewer, storm water bill may be larger soon.
The City Council here is discussing whether or not to raise the utility rates to cover expenses for the resources along with maintenance of the utilities and a new water tower.
Some council members requested and scheduled a continued public hearing on the issue. It is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2 at the Mountlake Terrace City Council Chambers at 23204 58th Avenue W.
Jerry Trojan, Mountlake Terrace’s administrative services director, said the average family’s bill right now is about $111 every two months.
The proposed increase would start the beginning of 2005 and go up 2.9 percent and then continue to increase up to 4 percent by the end of 2010.
“After the increases the average bill would be about $131,” Trojan said.
In 1999 Mountlake Terrace established a four year rate increase, Trojan said, so there were increases that year along with 2000, 2001 and 2003. He added, “there were no increases in 2004.”
According to Trojan, there is more than one reason city officials are proposing a rate hike.
The most “strapped” of the three utilities, Trojan said, is the storm water because this utility is newer and the staff and council didn’t have a background to go on and they basically under bid it.
“It cost more than we anticipated,” he said.
Other reasons for the proposed hike include paying for operating costs and making improvements to the different systems such as adding a new, bigger water tank and maintaining the others.
The reason for the new tank, Trojan said is a need for better water pressure and for reserve capacity.
Council member Angela Amundson has said she thinks the new, bigger water tank cost too much and the city hasn’t been growing so why increase water when the city isn’t growing.
Trojan said the tank needs to be replaced because city officials need to plan for the future.
“Standards and demands change,” he said, “what was OK 20 years ago — doesn’t meet current standards.”
City Council member Doug Wittinger said he’s in favor of some of the proposed rate increase plan, but not all.
“I like having our services paid for separately, I’m not pleased with the 15 percent increase in the storm water.” Wittinger said. “I feel the council should have evaluated the necessity of all the capital projects prior to debating this rate increase.”
As far as the new, bigger water tank, Wittinger said he’s not convinced there is a need for it either.
“I’d like to see if we didn’t get the new water tower how that would affect the rates — would we have this increase in the water rate?”
According to Trojan, if the utility rate increase doesn’t pass through the council at this time it would have to be brought up again at another time.
“There wouldn’t be any dire consequences, people won’t be out of water or anything,” Trojan said, “you’re planning for what ifs and planning for the future —you don’t want utilities to be interrupted.”
Trojan added, at this time the city has been approved for a .5 percent annual loan through the state.
At the last regular City Council meeting July 19, some residents spoke up about how they were against the idea and some said they feared the money made on the rate increase would be used for things other than utility activities and maintenance.
According to Trojan, this couldn’t happen because those funds have limited allowable uses.
“The revenues from the utilities can only be used to finance the activities for each utility system,” he said.
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