The operators of the city’s vast system of treatment plants, pipes, meters and dams say the increase is necessary as the system ages.
(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) Sewage treatment plant at 1300 West 2300 North in Salt Lake City in 2017. The city is poised to increase sewage rates by 18% in the 2021-22 budget.
Salt Lake City Public Utilities is seeking a rate hike that would make the capital’s sewage charges the highest in the Salt Lake Valley and the west.
Even so, a household’s electricity bills probably wouldn’t rise more than a dozen dollars a month – as long as its residents are low or moderate water users.
The Utilities Department says the proposed rate increase of 8% for supplied water, 18% for sewage, and 10% for rainwater is necessary to address an over-the-hill water system, including sewage treatment plants that are no longer up to snuff.
“The big thing for our budget,” said Laura Briefer, director of public utilities, “is the amount of aging infrastructure that we need to address.”
In particular, the city’s 50-year-old sewage treatment plant has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be modernized by 2025 in order to meet the new federal standards for nutrients. Construction workers laid the foundation stone for the new facility in 2019, and the estimated price has increased from $ 538 million to $ 711 million, according to city officials.
“We are affected by rising construction costs,” said Briefer, “but we are also taking into account value engineering and possible delays in certain elements of the project in order to reduce construction costs.”
Salt Lake City’s four water treatment plants, 1,300 miles of pipes, and the system’s numerous pumping stations, dams, and wells are also showing their age.
The division plans to spend $ 39.6 million on capital projects over the next year, including nearly $ 7.4 million on upgrades at the City Creek, Parleys and Big Cottonwood Canyon water treatment plants. Another US $ 1.4 million is earmarked for the Mountain Dell Dam and US $ 1.3 million for upgrading an aqueduct along 300 West from 900 South to 2100 South. Another $ 2.5 million would help replace water meters so they can be read remotely.
“Our infrastructure is out of sight and out of our minds until it fails,” said Briefer, “and we never want that to happen.”
So her department is proactive in raising interest rates, Briefer added. The biggest increase her department is suggesting is an 18% increase in sewage, which would make this utility one of the most expensive on the Wasatch Front and in cities in neighboring states like Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona.
The expected financial impact for residents ranges from $ 1.58 for a household with minimal channel usage to $ 6.32 for a medium usage household and $ 11.85 for a high usage home. This is evident from a budget submission to the city council last month.
The second largest increase – 10% for rainwater – would have barely any noticeable impact on residents’ wallets. Homes on less than a quarter of an acre would see a monthly increase of 55 cents while larger lots would see a monthly increase of 76 cents.
The 8% increase in water supplied rates would add an additional $ 2 per month on utility bills for households with minimal or low consumption and up to nearly $ 19 for households with high water consumption.
“With my family of four,” Briefer said, “the impact on my monthly bill is between $ 1.60 and $ 3.75, depending on how much I use.”
Any increases proposed by the department require approval from the city council, which is working with Mayor Erin Mendenhall on the 2021-22 budget. The city’s fiscal year begins in July.
Water rates in Salt Lake City typically increase 4% to 5% annually, according to Briefer, but last year the Utilities Department halted the increase due to financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, revenue stayed steady, allowing the department to catch up on projects and hires that were postponed in 2020 due to the 8% increase.
The region’s reputation for cheap water could soon end. Overall, Salt Lake City has a “delayed or unplanned but quantified capital requirement” of $ 756 million in its water company alone, according to an employee document made available to the city council.
“We are planning a five-year plan for water, so we aim for higher increases in the following years in order to really get into the financing strategy,” said Briefer. “Replacing wastewater treatment plants can cost $ 100 million.”
Meanwhile, the city and its public utility division are also looking into federal support, including soft loans from the Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act, as well as new funds available through the US rescue plan.
“Water systems across the country,” said Briefer, “are really looking forward to it and have similar needs.”
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