Water, sewer rate increases irk residents

A mix of opinions were shared by the public with Whitefish City Council last week before it voted to increase water and sewer rates.

Mike Howke said absorbing the increases into his budget is difficult, especially when rates are already high to begin with.

“It costs me more to flush my toilet than it does to heat my house and I think that’s sad,” he said.

City Council, noting it had little choice, but to raise rates to cover the cost of service, unanimously approved increases to both the water and wastewater rates.

During public comment, Lynda Tveidt said she’d simply like to be able to water her lawn.

“It’s frustrating to me to have a beautiful property and I can’t afford to water it,” she said. “There’s a lot of people in this situation.”

Lori Curtis said she supports the increases.

“I would like to thank the city with coming up with a reasonable and equitable solution for our water and wastewater treatment needs,” she said.

The standard residential service for water will increase .4% or about 24 cents per month, from $61.32 to $61.56. The standard residential service for sewer will increase 2.9% or about $1.91 per month from $64.77 to $66.88.

This is for customers inside city limits with a 3/4-inch meter and usage of 6,000 gallons of water and sewer per month. Rate increases do vary on size of meter, location and usage. The new rates go into effect in October.

Councilor Andy Feury said the city has little choice, but to raise rates to pay for the cost of service.

“Water and sewer is not a profit center for us,” he said. “We break even and we try to put money aside for the future for when things break. We’re building a new wastewater plant that is an unfunded mandate by the state.”

“This is not something we do to make money,” he added. “This is something we do to provide service.”

During public comment, Lee Muraoka says while she doesn’t object to the increase in rates, she feels like developers should pay a bigger portion because they’ve put a strain on resources and she doesn’t appreciate water conservation measures implemented by the city earlier this year that restrict residential irrigation.

“You want to limit my water supply and allow me to only water at certain times,” she said. “You have come up with restrictions for all of us who have lived here for years, but the new building is still getting their water.”

This spring Council approved a water conservation ordinance that prohibits all outdoor water during the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. year round. The ordinance also implemented general water conservation measures that are always in effect, and emergency measures that would be triggered only when certain conditions exist.

Whitefish is in the midst of two large projects related to its utility services. It is expected later this year to begin construction of a $19 million new wastewater treatment plant set to be operational in 2021. The city is also designing a project to increase its water treatment capacity and storage at an estimated cost of $17 million.

The city completed a water and wastewater rate study in 2015, and based off recommendations in that study has been increasing rates annually since 2016.

Rate adjustments are projected for water service through 2021 and for wastewater service through 2026, though each rate adjustment is considered year-by-year.

The approved changes also impact customers with a landscape or irrigation meter with a usage of 10,000 gallons per month will see a rate increase of 4.3%, or about $2.10 per month, from $48.80 to $50.90.

Council also:

- Approved a request from Genevieve Prizeman for a conditional use permit to construct an accessory apartment at 537 West 3rd Street.

- Approved an ordinance amending the zoning regulations for the general business district regarding the shopping loop emphasis in the downtown master plan. The change establishes a front setback of 5 feet on Lupfer Avenue from East First Street to East Second Street, a front setback of 15 feet on East First Street from Baker Avenue east to Lupfer Avenue. For the side setback, when the side property line is adjacent to East First Street then the setback is 15 feet, but there is no setback between buildings.