HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The next stage of budget discussions for the Hutchinson City Council is coming up Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
The council will be looking at a water rate study completed earlier this year and a separate sewer rate study from 2020 from Burns & McDonnell.
The study says revenues under existing water rates are not sufficient to meet the projected cash obligations of the utility over the nine-year study period.
The study recommends a consistent increase of 5.5% every year from FY 2023 to FY 2029.
In the proposed rate design, minimum charges by meter size are increased 2 percent per year, while volumetric charges are increased slightly over 7 percent per year. City Route rates are assumed to increase $0.01 per hundred cubic feet per year to improve equity in cost recovery.
According to a regional comparison of rates, even with the increases, Hutchinson's water rates would be more than Great Bend, Dodge City, McPherson and Wichita, but less than Manhattan, Newton, Olathe, Pratt, Salina and several jurisdictions in Johnson County and still below the regional average.
On the sewer rate side, the study says revenues under existing sewer rates are also not sufficient to meet the projected cash obligations of the utility over the study period.
The study recommends a consistent increase of 5% every year from FY 2023 to FY 2029. The increase per 5 Ccf, or 500 cubic feet, would be consistent with national sewer rate increase trends of about 5 percent.
Hutchinson is well below average in sewer rate charges compared to other Kansas cities. Only Pratt and Edgerton are currently lower, with Hutch set to pass up Great Bend if they take the 5% increase, but still to be below McPherson, Wichita, Dodge City, the other Johnson County jurisdictions listed, and Newton.
The Burns & McDonnell team and City Staff will be in attendance to present the rate studies. The meeting is at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chambers.