NE Iowa News

The Cresco City Council discussed rate increases made to the city's water and sewer utilities during a meeting held on April 17.

The council approved rate increases during a prior meeting, raising water rates by four percent and sewer rates by six percent. According to City Clerk Michelle Elton, following the rate proposals, many in the city had raised questions that spurred her, Councilmember Amy Bouska, and Deputy Clerk Niki Hill, to examine Cresco's fund and future projects more closely.

“The whole question is 'how much do we need in reserves to feel comfortable for unexpected things that come up?'" Elton said. 

Elton believed that a four percent water rate would be insufficient and was concerned about the City Water Department and how "they have several projects such as pulling the wells every four years and water meter replacements that we know are going to be coming up and are costly." The water meters were especially worrying because their supply was limited and hard to obtain, and Cresco's supply has run out. The City was expecting to spend no more than $150,000 for replacement meters in 2023, but the price could be higher due to high demand.

The council also examined sewer funds, which differ from water funds as they don't experience many frequent or routing projects but still face large infrastructure projects every few years. Elton felt that the City had enough money in its reserves and that the more significant projects were far away enough that the current rate could sit at five percent for the time being. The City has one sewer project in the next five years and a second one in the next ten years. However, the City is planning on applying for loan forgiveness grants for those projects, which will alleviate the financial burden. The council ultimately approved five percent increases for both water and sewer rates.

"It'll be less of an impact on the resident because the sewer is such a higher rate," Elton said. "So like a minimum bill, it would go from - for water, it would go from $8.58 to $9, and the sewer would go from $14.34 to $15.06."