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EVERETT — Starting Feb. 1, utility rates for water, sewer and stormwater will increase.
The drinking water rate will be an average of $32.21 per month for a single family home. Then in the next several years, there will be a slight increase.
For sewage and stormwater, the combined rate will be an average of $104.04 per month for a single family home. Each year after that the rate will increase in the next several years.
The rates for 2025 will help the city meet conditions such as emerging regulatory requirements, and financial obligations of the Everett Utility.
City Public Works Finance and Support Services Superintendent Shaun Bridge said in an interview that the rate increases will help issue bonds to pay for projects. Also, the project is capital-intensive, meaning that they budget based on the cost of a project.
The city has four capital projects totaling more than $308 million which the rates will help pay for. They are Port Gardner Storage Facility, 36th Street Combined Overflow Control, Reservoir 3 Replacement, and Water Filtration project. These four projects will need substantial money put toward them.
The money earned from rates go toward the “principal and interest on the bonds,” city public works spokeswoman Kathleen Baxter said via email.
The rates also pay for keeping the utility systems functioning. For example, the pipes.
Also, it will pay for “the cost of construction for maintenance and new facilities,” Baxter said. And they contribute “to the financial reserves that protect Utility customers,” Baxter added.
To offset the increasing rates for some residents, the city has a low-income assistance program and increased the maximum benefit from $500 to $700 a year. Households that earn less than 200% of the area median income can apply. For a household of three, that is earning $26,650 or less per year ($2,220.83 per month.)
The city also has senior discount program for homeowners 62 and older and those who are disabled. To ask about that, email utilitybilling@everettwa.gov or call 425-257-8999.
Information on both programs are at everettwa.gov/2784/Bill-assistance.
The city used long-term capital, short-term maintenance, and cost recovery to determine that an increase was needed. Long-term capital refers to projects that are big and expensive. Short-term maintenance refers to regular maintenance of the utility systems. Lastly, cost recovery covers the cost of the project.
To make them reasonable, “the Utility cuts its list of long-term capital projects to be constructed in the next four years in half,” Baxter said. This results from postponed projects.
The City Council approved increasing the rates at its Jan. 8 meeting.
“This is consequential. It’s a significant rate increase critical to water infrastructure treatment,” Councilmember Ben Zarlingo said during the Jan. 8 City Council meeting.
