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Gilbert’s water and solid waste/recycling utility rates will go up substantially in April after town council unanimously voted for the hikes Feb. 6.
The vote was the culmination of a monthslong process that led council members to conclude they had no choice but to enact the changes, though they did work to mitigate the impact.
Under the changes, water rates will go up 50% in April, an average of $17 on a residential customer’s bill, while those same customers will see an $8.52 increase on solid waste/recycling service for their 90-gallon cans.
Commercial customers will see about a 25% increase in their solid waste and recycling services.
Two residents spoke against the proposed increases at the public hearing, and a third stormed out after the vote, shouting it was a sham and the town was ripping people off.
But the town’s enterprise funds for the three lines of service — solid waste and recycling has separate funds for residential and commercial services — are crashing under the weight of various cost pressures.
“I've looked at this as many ways as I can, and I cannot find a reasonable fight to pick about it,” Councilmember Jim Torgeson said, addressing the residents who spoke. “I can't find a big hole. I have a couple questions. I feared the answers were going to be reasonable, and they were. I've looked; it's not set up to go anywhere but back to you in servicing you and me.”
The cost pressures on water include the need for water resource resiliency with shortages on the Colorado River, skyrocketing construction costs and additional infrastructure needs, Assistant Public Works Director Eric Braun said.
The town is facing escalating costs for raw water, treatment of it and delivery to customers, Braun said.
The town, agreeing with its public works advisory board, did spread out the cost increases on water over three years, meaning customers will see increases again in 2025 and 2026. To do this and keep the enterprise fund propped up, it will sell $80 million in bonds, which will cost the town about $43 million in interest, officials said.
On solid waste and recycling, Braun said the three main reasons for the increases are the volume of trash and cost to dispose it have greatly increased; repair and maintenance costs have skyrocketed; parts and supplies on aging the public works fleet’s aging trucks have gone up 30%.
“The task before us tonight is kind of a tough one,” Braun said. “It’s giving these services that are so impactful to our community the attention and the resources that they need.”
Council, in response to residents' concerns, unanimously approved on the consent agenda a contingency request of $150,000 to develop and fund a utility bill discount pilot program.
Councilmember Kathy Tilque said staff has been gathering contact information for residents who expressed concerns about the impact of the rate increases so the town can proactively reach out to those residents and let them know about the assistance program.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Raised in Arizona, Tom Blodgett has spent more than 35 years in journalism in Arizona and joined Independent Newsmedia in July 2022 to launch the Gilbert edition. He is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication from 2005-19 and remains editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet.
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