PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Public Utility District on Monday approved a 6 percent water rate increase in unincorporated areas it serves.
Commissioners approved the increase after hearing a staff presentation and holding a public hearing in Port Angeles. Earlier hearings were held in Carlsborg and Sekiu.
The average residential customer will see a $2 to $4 increase on his or her monthly bill beginning June 1, PUD Treasurer Josh Bunch said.
Rates are scheduled to go up another 6 percent in 2012 and 6 percent in 2013.
PUD officials said the increase is needed to meet regulatory mandates, fund ongoing maintenance of aging infrastructure and other operational costs.
“The bottom line is without rate increases, basically our financial health is continuing to deteriorate,” Bunch said at Monday’s meeting.
Commissioners Will Purser and Hugh Haffner voted to approve the increase. Commissioner Ted Simpson was absent.
No members of the public showed up to testify.
Without the increase, the PUD’s adjusted operating income is projected to nosedive from $288,216 this year to $74,926 by 2013.
Targets for the minimum adjusted operating incomes — to cover debt and capital costs like the state-mandated Bluffs well relocation project — are $842,109 this year and $973,237 by 2013.
A recent cost-of-service study suggested a 9.8-percent-per-year increase, but PUD staff chiseled that down to 6 percent per year by deferring some projects and reallocating resources.
With the approved increase, the adjusted operating income projects to be $452,055 this year, $524,887 in 2012 and $579,152 in 2013.
“Still below our targets, but moving in the right direction,” Bunch said.
The PUD is planning for $5.75 million in capital projects during the next three years. Bonds will cover $4.5 million of those capital costs and ratepayers will finance the other $1.25 million.
The Bluffs well project for Fairview water customers is $3.8 million alone.
Relocation of the Bluffs well is a requirement of both the state departments of Ecology and Heath. With state regulations, the PUD can’t pump its full water right from the existing well.
The district is also purchasing land for a new Gales Addition reservoir, replacing one that is more than 60 years old.
Bunch said the step-up increases are designed to avoid double-digit increases like a 15 percent increase in 2007.
“One of our strategic objectives is stable rates,” PUD General Manager Doug Nass said.
The PUD serves about 4,300 water customers in Clallam County.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
