The Carroll City Council has delayed the final reading of a proposed water rate increase to allow time for city officials to investigate alternative funding sources for the Northwest Pressure Zone project. Since May, the council has been working through the required readings for a 7.5-percent increase that would go into effect on July 1, 2025. This is the first of several projected increases over the next four years, which would result in water rates increasing by a combined 27.4 percent if they proceed as scheduled. At Monday’s meeting, Ward 2 Councilman Jason Atherton suggested the council look into other ways to fund the project beyond rate hikes.
The council could not take direct action on Atherton’s proposal Monday, as the idea was not on the agenda for the June 9 meeting. City Manager Aaron Kooiker explains where the city received the nearly $1 million currently held in the sewer fund.
Public Works Director Randy Krauel says he and other city officials would need to rework some of the figures to determine if reallocating those funds is even feasible.
Current cost projections for the Northwest Pressure Zone project are approximately $5 million, but city officials do not have firm numbers yet, making it difficult to confidently forecast what they need for rate adjustments to cover this project and the other, smaller projects associated with the increases. To allow more time to explore those possibilities, the council voted unanimously to postpone the ordinance’s third reading and potential adoption to the June 23 meeting.
