Hood River - Water and Sewer Rate Increases

Engage the Gorge

Published Feb, 26 2021

Water & Sewer Rate increases coming - esp for industrial & irrigation customers.

Hood River City Council meets 4 times in March. Sigh. Monday's agenda and ZOOM info is here: https://cityofhoodriver.gov/.../CC-Packet-03-01-2021...

For March 1, topics up for discussion are a recommendation for rate increases in water and sewer rates AND the "missing middle" new building codes.

We sat through one of these water/sewer studies in 2019, but another one is teed up for Monday. In a nutshell:

- The city expects to need $14 million for capital water projects now through 2028.

- The city expects to need $20 million in sewer projects for the same period.

Current cash plus bond proceeds and current rates won't cover this work. The group doing the study recommends rate increases in both areas. The amount of the rate increases vary by customer type, and are designed to capture the cost of the services and allocate the price increases accordingly.

We think the recommendation look like they'll hit single-family homes with a 1% increase each year over the next 5 years, but industrial and irrigation users will take a significant hit (8.5% annually for industrial users, and 18% for irrigation users).

Also up: The "Missing Middle" housing code. The city has had almost no testimony from anyone in the public outside of Thrive, the building community, and a handful of people. If you have comments, best get them to the city council by Monday.

Video will be posted after the meeting, but try to listen to some "live" if you can. If only to show the city that someone is out there ... somewhere ... listening.