NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council knows they have to increase water and sewer rates to meet the long term cost of maintaining and upgrading the city's infrastructure, but the haggling is over how much the increase should be.
"We want to keep a mental ledger of assumptions that we think are prudent," said David Naumann with Burns & McDonnell. "The concern that I have just overall right now is, because of inflation, I think the likelihood is that we're running a higher risk that the plan is going to cost more to implement than what we're showing. As we talk about maybe looking at a lower rate increase, the sensitivity we run now may end up playing differently depending on how long you run at elevated inflation."
The proposal in Burns and McDonnell's documents provided to the council was a net 5.5% increase in water rates and 5% in sewer rates, broken down as 2 percent on residential and 7 percent on industrial, roughly, when it comes to the water side. There was a desire among the council to know more about what industrial water rates are in competitive communities and also to look at different residential and industrial revenue mixes. Interim City Manager Gary Meagher recommended revisiting the issue next month during the session for operating budgets.
"I wonder if that would be a good time to do that, that way," Meagher said. "That will give us a little bit of time before we finalize the budget, but gives you an opportunity to talk about that in relation to some of the other departments."
That budget discussion is scheduled for June 13. Hutchinson is still below the regional average for both water and sewer rates.