John Day water and sewer rates to increase beginning in January
By Logan Bagett on Wednesday, December 4th, 2024 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
JOHN DAY – The John Day City Council discussed some increases to utilities at their most recent meeting. With the necessary construction of their new wastewater treatment facility, the city will have to increase the monthly base rates for those using the water and sewer system.
The results of their rate study were released from Engineer Steve Donovan at the meeting on November 26th. City Manager Melissa Bethel provided our newsroom with documents what were circulated at the meeting.
According to the suggestions from Donovan, the current base rate for water is $34-per-month. Beginning in January, that rate would rise to $39 and could climb as high as $47 by 2029.
As far as the sewer rates go, that may be where it really stings the bill payers. The projected rate increase for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 is around 6.37%, bumping sewer rates up to $77 in 2026. For the following year, a 22% increase is expected, skyrocketing sewer bills to $94-per-month by 2027. Annual increases will then decrease, but slowly. 15 years from now the increase is expected to be just over 13%, and monthly sewer bills are forecast to be around $145-per-month in 2030.
Bethel told our newsroom that, “Sewer rates…are projected FY25-26 for $77.00. However, as we are going to start in January with the increases, we are suggesting sewer be raised to $72.00 and then a $17.00 increase per year.”
Download the documents from the meeting in the links below:
