LONG BEACH — City councilors this week signed off on new utility rates for next year, which include a higher-than-usual increase in monthly charges for water and sewer services as Long Beach wrestles with millions of dollars in planned maintenance and improvement projects to its utility systems in the coming years.

The ordinance unanimously approved by the Long Beach City Council at a Dec. 2 meeting raises the minimum monthly water rate for in-city residences by 8% in 2025, from $42.84 to $46.27. The sewer rate will rise by 10% monthly, from $82.88 to $91.17, and the stormwater rate will increase by 1.1%, from $12.78 to $12.92 — a combined monthly increase of $12.92, or 9.3%, across the three utilities.

The 8-10% increase in the water and sewer rates comes a year after a study from the city’s engineering firm, Gray & Osborne, laid out several scenarios for how Long Beach could tackle funding nearly $13 million in scheduled maintenance projects and infrastructure improvements for its aging water and sewer systems by the mid-2030s. The study advised against deferring action, noting that construction projects only get more expensive as time drags on — especially in the aftermath of the covid-19 pandemic.

The council opted last fall to raise water and sewer rates by 5% for 2024 following the release of the study, which itself was an increase over recent years. Ariel Smith, Long Beach deputy administrator, said the city is trying to avoid larger rate increases over a multi-year period while also making sure needed improvements to infrastructure are not being neglected.

“We have an aging system that we do need to either replace or do a lot of maintenance on, so we are trying to stay on top of it and not just have it be an even larger problem 10 years down the road because we deferred maintenance,” Smith said. “We want to make sure the city and the infrastructure is keeping up with regulations and maintenance and everything, but we also want to be extremely conscious of the rates and what that is doing to our community.”

Pull Quote

‘We have an aging system that we do need to either replace or do a lot of maintenance on, so we are trying to stay on top of it and not just have it be an even larger problem 10 years down the road because we deferred maintenance.’

Ariel Smith, Long Beach deputy administrator

Assuming 800 cubic feet of water consumption each month, the typical monthly water fee for residences within city limits is $73.48 this year. At the new minimum rate, which covers the first 400 cubic feet of water consumption as well as the $8.27 commodity charge for each 100 cubic feet thereafter, the typical fee in 2025 will increase to $79.35 per month.

The city estimates that its revenue from providing water services will rise from about $2.18 million in 2024 to $2.36 million in 2025 with the rate changes factored in, an increase of 8.3%. Money collected from that service makes up the vast majority of the dollars the city brings in for its water fund, with total revenues for the fund projected at $2.39 million next year.

Revenue from providing sewer services is estimated to rise from $1.77 million this year to $1.95 million in 2025, an increase of 10.2%. Like the water fund, sewer receipts make up the bulk of revenue for Long Beach’s sewer fund.

Upcoming water, sewer projects

The biggest water project that the city has planned for next year is replacing the water main from Pioneer Road to 26th Street NW along Ocean Beach Boulevard North, and from 42nd Place to 51st Street along K Place. The city was previously awarded a low-interest loan of $1.8 million from Washington’s Public Works Board for the project, which covers most of the costs.

Additionally, the city plans to spend $200,000 as part of its ongoing effort to purchase and install 200 auto read water meters each year, which is expected to be completed by 2027. Another $150,000 is slated to go toward the addition of 24 filters at Long Beach’s water treatment plant to increase production.

Next year’s budget calls for $15,000 in training expenses for the city’s water operators, including certification upgrades, as well as another $15,000 for needed tools and equipment such as PPE, lab testing supplies and IT and computer hardware. About $49,000 is set aside for annual requirements, including testing the water plant’s motors and pumps and cleaning and inspecting two of the reservoirs, with another $30,000 going toward meeting mandates from the Washington State Department of Health for things like algae control.

On the sewer side of things, Long Beach is continuing a years-long push to replace and upgrade its lift stations in 2025. Lift stations are large pumping facilities that are needed to effectively transport sewage because of the peninsula’s high groundwater level and flat terrain.

Millions of dollars worth of work on the city’s lift stations are slated to begin or continue into next year, although they are being covered by federal funds that the city has been awarded via congressionally directed spending requests, as well as other state and federal grant funds.

Sewer and stormwater improvements will also be taking place along the same stretch of Ocean Beach Boulevard North that is scheduled for work next year, which is being funded by a loan from Washington’s State Revolving Fund. Councilors at this week’s meeting also accepted a $500,000 grant from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board to widen and reconstruct the affected stretch of road.

About $123,000 in the sewer fund is budgeted for operating supplies, including $90,000 in bark dust, wood chips and polymer to run Long Beach’s compost plant that began operations in 2021. Another $80,000 is projected for annual requirements, as well as $15,000 in training expenses for the city’s wastewater operators.