Gilbert residents could see more frequent utility increases
Rate case for wastewater, environmental compliance fee goes before council Feb. 21
Posted
We don’t strive to be the lowest rate in the Valley, although that is an important data point for us. We strive to have the highest quality service and the best value.”
Eric Braun, assistant public works director
Wastewater infrastructure
Gilbert has more than $500 million invested in its wastewater infrastructure.
• 78,054 residential services
• 18,576 manholes
• 852 miles of gravity sewer
• 30 miles of force main
• 16 lift stations
• 2 wastewater treatment plants
• 3 reclaimed booster stations
• 78 miles of reclaimed water line
• 651 reclaimed water valves
• 4 recharge facilities
• 63 reclaimed water customers
Source: Town of Gilbert/Independent Newsmedia
Stormwater infrastructure
Gilbert has stormwater infrastructure in every portion of town, Assistant Public Works Director Eric Braun said.
• 10,757 storm structures
• 102 retention basins
• 5 stormwater pump stations
• 2 channels
• 2 washes
• 446,500 linear feet of storm pipe (8 inches to 120 inches)
Gilbert residents enjoy some of the lowest municipal utility rates in the Valley and have rarely seen rate changes in the past 15 years.
But the slow frequency of changes likely has come to an end as Gilbert Town Council plans to hear a rate increase Feb. 21, one year after the last increase, and has set a policy for the town to review rates annually.
The coming increases are on wastewater services and the town’s environmental compliance fee, which mostly covers handling of stormwater. Last February, council approved increases on water rates and environmental services — trash and recycling collection.
With the current increases, which would go into effect with bills issued April 1 and thereafter if approved, residents will see a flat increase of $10.53 — $8.02 for wastewater and $2.51 for the environmental compliance fee.
Wastewater consumers, like parks, homeowners associations and golf courses, also will see increases on their rate depending on volume of usage.
Despite the increase, Gilbert will have the third lowest rates among peer Valley cities, higher than Chandler and edging slightly higher than Peoria with the newest rate change.
“We don’t strive to be the lowest rate in the Valley, although that is an important data point for us,” said Eric Braun, Gilbert’s assistant public works director. “We strive to have the highest quality service and the best value.”
For both services, Gilbert has two primary reasons for increasing rates: critical project needs and shoring up fund balances.
Frequency of rate changes
Council directed staff in 2022 to begin reviewing rates for their separate utilities every two years, with a cycle of two utilities being considered one year and the other two utilities the next year, with the cycle repeating itself thereafter, officials said.
That means it is possible residents could see annual increases on their overall bill each year. Before this year, wastewaster and the environmental compliance fee had not been increased since 2018, but the overall bill increased in 2022 when the water and environmental compliance charges went up.
Before 2018, the environmental services rates had not changed since 2012 and water and wastewater had not changed since 2009. The environmental compliance fee was created in 2018.
Braun said rate changes will come more frequently, but the town is unsure of the size of those changes because it is in a period of “catching up” as items like chemicals and electricity are becoming more expensive.
“The hope is to get into more regular cycles that are not as impactful, but we’ll see what happens with the next ones because of so many changes that are happening that … are outside of our control,” he said.
Keeping minimum fund balances
Gilbert’s utility funds are considered “enterprise” funds that are self-sustaining, town officials said. What residents and businesses pay on their utility bills goes to pay only for those utilities. The utilities are not propped up by any property or sales tax money, and the money paid on the bill does not go to pay for any other town services.
Council policy has long required the town to keep three months of service and one year of debt payments as a minimum balance on its enterprise funds. That minimum balance is meant to be a “rainy day” fund, officials said.
But rate studies the town prepared ahead of asking for the increases showed the wastewater and environmental compliance funds will soon go under their minimum fund balances without an increase.
In the case of the environmental compliance fund, town documents show the recommended rate increase would stave off falling below minimum fund balance in fiscal year 2023-24 and keep it above through 2027-28. After that, cash funding for two large capital improvement projects would send it below minimum in fiscal year 2028-29, which would have to be addressed then.
For the wastewater fund, the recommended increase puts the town above minimum fund balance through fiscal year 2026-27. The recommended rate plan allows the town to cash fund critical projects, maintains emergency response flexibility and reserves bond capacity, according to town documents.
The increases do not push the enterprise funds much above their minimum fund balances, which Braun acknowledged.
“It takes away some flexibility when targets like the bull’s-eye (of just the minimum fund balance), and then if things happen now, you don’t have a lot of flexibility,” he said. “So we’re trying to look at ways to incorporate some more flexibility in there in the future. It’s just hard when you’re already doing a big change to do a big change — and then flexibility means more (charges).”
Critical projects
The town’s aging infrastructure puts pressure on it to make repairs, refurbishments or replacements to maintain customers’ level of service from the town.
At the top of the list for the environmental compliance fund is the Sonoqui Wash at Ocotillo and Higley roads, a regional storm water conveyance system that moves water from the east and through the town into the Eastern Maricopa Floodway.
A 2017 assessment of the wash identified damage to the berms, which had eroded and sedimented in the bottom of the low-flow channel and is causing a lot of standing water that is a mosquito and midge-fly breeding ground.
Though it was identified as a problem in 2017, the town does not have the money to pay to fix it. Council has directed the town to save up money to cash-pay the project, rather than to bond for it, which is where the rate increase comes in. But it will be another five years before the town will have funds on hand to pay for the project, Braun said.
“It’s not timely, but that is (why) we have to balance the urgency of a project with the impact to the community due to the rate increases,” he said.
A similar project will be needed at the Hunt Highway channel, Braun said.
The wastewater system is much larger, accounting for the larger increase, Braun said. Several capital-improvement projects have been identified for the system, but two stand out.
One is a distribution-structure expansion at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch, which serves as more than a wildlife refuge or popular local recreation spot. It is a water resource amenity that helps with sustainability in Gilbert as a groundwater recharging station with the town’s reclaimed water.
The other is an odor-control project for the Western Canal near Guadalupe Road. The gases that produce the foul odor also are highly corrosive to the system’s pipes, and the town plans to control them through a chemical injection station.
“These are critical projects that have to happen very soon, and that’s driving the need for additional utility rates,” Braun said. “There will be consequences for our public safety, our ability to sustainably operate our water systems and consequences for the environment if we don’t do these in a timely manner.”
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on Twitter. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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