Changes to City utility rates take effect on January 1, 2025.
After extensive consideration of the 2024 Utility Rate Study, the Leavenworth City Council voted to move forward with the recommended updates to the City’s utility rate structure. Effective January 1, 2025, utility rates will increase. The updated utility rate structure is designed to minimize the impact on customers while balancing rising operations costs, funding necessary capital improvements, and encouraging conservation.
Why are rates increasing?
Rising costs highlight the challenges of delivering reliable utility services.
Key Drivers in Rising Costs:
- Operation and maintenance of utility infrastructure
- Inflation
- Necessary system upgrades (i.e., capital projects)
- For residential water service, the monthly base rates will see an increase of about 3%, or $77.36 to $79.52 for a ¾-inch meter. Consumption rates start at 98 cents per 1,000 gallons for the first 4,000 gallons used and incrementally increase.
- For multi-family water service, the monthly base rates will see an increase from $17.87 to $23.56 per residential unit inside city limits. The consumption rate was slightly lowered, at a flat rate of $1.14 per 1,000 gallons.
- For commercial water service, the monthly base rates will see an approximate increase from $45.48 to $57.18 for a ¾-inch meter. The flat consumption rate is $1.44 per 1,000 gallons.
- For water, the 7,500 gallons per month per meter allowance was removed.
- For sewer, there are slight increases for multi-family monthly rates, from $35.52 per dwelling unit to $37.99 per dwelling unit, and commercial, from $68.60 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) of water used to $80.61 per ERU. There are no changes to residential sewer rates.
- Stormwater monthly rates will increase from $6.16 to $6.28 for residential, multi-family, and commercial low-impact.
- A single-family home with an ¾-inch water meter will see an average of $12.14 increase in monthly rates for water, sewer, and stormwater. A multi-family structure with 6 units will pay about $13 more per unit and a structure with 30 units will pay about $9.36 more per unit.
- For a small commercial account, with no grease, the average monthly bill will increase by approximately $34.65. A large restaurant with a 1-inch meter will have an average $285.97 monthly increase. A medium to large restaurant with a 2-inch meter will see a $292.65 increase. A 100-room hotel will see about a $583.61 increase.
- The newly adopted water system development charge (SDC) will increase for an ¾-inch meter from $3,898.80 to $6,685.00. All water SDCs will increase proportionally based on the meter size.
- The right-of-way permit fee for the maintenance of an existing sidewalk was decreased to $35 from $100 to reduce the burden on property owners required to maintain the sidewalk in front of their property (Note: this applies to residents and businesses).
