Rate Ordinance
Water and sewer rates are established annually by ordinance and periodically evaluated. The ordinance calls for a minimum mandatory inflationary adjustment each year. The annual inflationary adjustments to water and sewer rates ensure that the WSU has sufficient resources to respond to maintenance items and system failures. This commitment protects the citizens’ enormous investment in the system, and ensures that the city can adequately treat effluent and provide quality drinking water. Rates can be increased more than this, depending on the operational, debt service and capital needs of the system.

Rates are a combination of a consumption charge and a fixed charge based on meter size. They are calculated and illustrated using a typical 6,000-gallon-per-month usage assumption. Residents are billed in 1,000-gallon increments, and may install an optional separate sprinkling meter to avoid sewage charges on water not entering the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).

2011-2012 Budget
Council recently approved the 2011-2012 budget, which increased water and sewer rates by 4%. This represents the second of a three-year phased-in increase to cover the cost of the ongoing sewer separation mandate. A typical user using 6,000 gallons per month will see their monthly bill increase $2.16 per month as the table below shows.

Proposed Water & Sewer Rates

Service	Existing		New
	Per 1,000 gal.	Per 6,000 gal.	Per 1,000 gal.	Per 6,000 gal.
Water	$2.72	$16.32	$2.840	$17.04
Sewer	$5.44	$32.64	$5.680	$34.08
Fixed	$6.60	$6.60	$6.60	$6.60
Total		$55.56		$57.72
Increase				$2.16