Water rates in Arvada will creep up 3.3 percent in January after the Arvada City Council signed off on rate increases last week as part of the 2014 budget.
For the average residential customer, the rate hike will mean paying about $13.38 more a year for city water, or roughly $1.12 a month, said Jim Sullivan, the city’s director of utilities.
As of Jan. 1, sewer rates will also go up 4.1 percent, or $10.80 a year for the average single-family customer.
The total impact of the new rates will be a little more than $24 a year, or $2.02 a month, according to city documents.
Water and sewer rates also increased in 2013, roughly the same amount, Sullivan said. The city reviews utility rates on an annual basis.
“If we don’t do anything for four or five years, people may get hit by a 10-percent jump. We try to avoid that,” Sullivan said. “The increases really reflect increases in costs we’re getting.”
For city water service, increases in construction and vendor costs are a major factor this year, as well as higher raw water costs and growing infrastructure needs.
Much of the need for sewer-rate increases is tied to required improvements to the regional wastewater treatment plant, Sullivan said. Arvada is a member of the Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation District, which serves about 1.7 million people in the Denver metro area.
Overall, city spending will go down in 2014 under the budget approved by the city council Oct. 21.
Total city spending, including capital improvements, has been set at $174.8 million for 2014, a 27 percent decrease over 2013, according to budget documents.
The city’s general fund, which covers basic city services, will fall about 2 percent to $71. 4 million in 2014, from $73.1 million this year.
Lisa Yagi, the city’s interim finance director, said the biggest difference between 2013 and 2014 spending is a $36 million one-time payment in the 2013 budget for the city’s share of the Moffat project, Denver Water’s efforts to expand Gross Reservoir.
Other major 2013 projects included the construction of the two community police stations, budgeted at $8 million, and $2.2 million for the Garrison Street bridge and drainage project, according to budget documents.
The total funding for capital improvements in 2014 is $16.8 million, compared to $65.2 million in 2013.
What is included in the 2014 budget, Yagi said, is $5 million for road maintenance, as well as $250,000 to continue efforts to create quiet zones along the Union Pacific railroad tracks.
The city is also adding a handful of new positions, including a court clerk and assistant city attorney to help handle the growing case load at the municipal court level, Yagi said.
Another new position will be a performance budget manager, a two-year position that will be responsible for overseeing the city’s transition to performance-based budgeting.
Two departments — utilities and the Arvada Economic Development Association — made the switch for 2014, with the remaining divisions to follow suit for 2015-2016, Yagi said.
“The goal for the 2014 budget is to maintain the service level for all citizens,” Yagi said. “We’re doing that.”
