Your PUD News Release
Board sets next steps for reducing gap on PUD water and wastewater funding
Chelan County PUD
News Release
1/16/2012
A planned 6-percent increase for water and sewer rates is in the Chelan County PUD budget this year, but PUD commissioners want to give customers a chance to comment before the rate increase is expected to take effect on April 1.
A public meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the PUD Auditorium in Wenatchee to hear from customers about the rate proposal. Another meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 8, at the PUD offices in Leavenworth. The final public hearing to consider the rates will be at 1 p.m. Monday, March 5, at the PUD boardroom in Wenatchee as part of a regular board meeting.
Sewer and water rates do not cover the full cost of providing those services, and the PUD wants to move the rates gradually closer to covering costs as part of its long-term Strategic Plan for financial stability. Revenues are needed to cover the infrastructure and operational costs of the sewer and water systems that cover wide rural areas of Chelan County where population is less dense. The PUD has approximately 5,500 water customers (mostly on the outskirts of Wenatchee) and about 500 sewer customers, primarily in the Peshastin-Dryden area. The Strategic Plan incorporates customer priorities and preferences gleaned from extensive community outreach over a number of months.
If the 6-percent increase is approved, the average bill for residential water customers using 7,500 gallons per month would increase about $2.95 per month. Sewer bills would increase about $3.50 per month on the basic charge for residential customers using PUD systems in the Peshastin, Dryden and Lake Wenatchee areas.
This rate increase is considered an interim step until the PUD can develop five-year business plans for all its various utility systems later this year. Further changes may be recommended at that time since this increase will not completely close the gap on covering costs for the sewer and water services.
In other action Monday:
- Commissioners voted 3-2 to keep meeting for two sessions per day (morning and afternoon) on two days a month (first and third Mondays) instead of meeting for just one afternoon session on four Mondays a month. A morning session from 10 a.m. to noon will be designated as a study session. The afternoon session at 1 p.m. will be designated as a business meeting. Commissioners Carnan Bergren and Ann Congdon supported returning to meeting four days a month, and commissioners Dennis Bolz, Randy Smith and Norm Gutzwiler voted to stick with the new twice-a-month schedule the board has been trying out the last four months.
- Commissioners also set a public hearing at 1 p.m. on Feb. 6 to consider slight changes in commissioner district boundaries which have been redrawn by Chelan County following the 10-year census. Boundaries are required to be adjusted every 10 years, and the three numbered PUD commissioner districts have always matched the three county commissioner districts. Two at-large PUD districts will not need to be altered.
A special meeting of the Board has been set for 10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 23, at the PUD boardroom for the purpose of holding an executive session to evaluate the performance of a public employee. The next regular commission meeting is at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 6, in the PUD boardroom at 327 N. Wenatchee Ave.
Most PUD commission meetings are recorded, and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s home page at www.chelanpud.org.
Steve Lachowicz
Communications director
509-661-4639, direct line
509-679-0148, cell
steve.lachowicz@chelanpud.org