By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
NEWPORT – The Newport city council this week unanimously approved a utility increase as part of the city’s $140 million budget for 2025-26, aiming to help it complete “urgent” capital projects.
Although the average residential customer will see a 6 percent hike, which translates to about a $9 increase to their monthly utility bill, the city is eliminating the $375 deposit that customers are required to pay when they start service.
The council adopted the budget Monday night, which covers a wide breadth of services from library programs to firefighters. The city’s budget is primarily funded by property taxes but also gets money from service fees, state, and federal funding as well as other ources.
When crafting the 2025-26 budget, the main approach was to complete important projects, think long term and to continue revenue increases to keep pace with rising costs, according to city manager Nina Vetter’s budget message.
“The water fund, wastewater and stormwater funds, like several of the City’s other funds, are funded by charges for services,” according to the budget document. “All three funds have been unable to sufficiently fund critical infrastructure and capital projects, in part due to the fact that rates were not increased for a long period of time.”
There’s about $34 million budgeted for water and wastewater projects – from updating sewer lines, upgrading the Nye Beach Pump station, and designing of Big Creek Dam, a project decades in the making to replace two earthen dams at Big Creek Reservoir with one new concrete dam.
Starting July 1, residential customers will see a 6 percent increase in their water, stormwater, and wastewater bills while commercial users will see a 10 percent increase. An average Newport household that uses 4,000 gallons of water would see an approximate increase from $147 to $156.
Last year, the city approved a 15 percent increase in water and wastewater rates and 25 percent increase in stormwater rates, which raised the bill for the average customer from $127 to $147.
The approved budget also removes the $375 utility deposit required when first starting an account with the city.
The city is still creating a plan to refund deposits to eligible customers, according to a city spokesperson. Once those details are finalized, they will be shared with the public.
“I just make one comment that it seems like a lot of money, but I did the math, and it’s only a little less than $13,000 a person,” said councilor Robert Emond. “When you think about everything that’s provided for everyone who lives here, from the roads to the fire to the wastewater and all those pumps and everything we’re doing, it’s a relatively small amount.”
The budget can be viewed on the city’s website.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
What is “a little less than $13,000 a person”?
Rates have been increased significantly over time, and there have been changes over time in how charges were/are labeled, so it’s not always possible to track actual rate increases. And some parts of Newport continue to have poor water pressure. Maybe if urban renewal funds were spent on storm water, et al infrastructure instead of a couplet, there wouldn’t be the need for so many rate increases. Last time I checked (OR statutes), urban renewal funds could be used to upgrade sewer connections, etc.