Ballot initiative to increase North Bend wastewater utility rates
The North Bend city council met in special session on Tuesday, July 30th to discuss an upcoming ballot initiative. Mayor Jessica Engelke emphasized why this ballot is important, “The revenue from property taxes does not cover the expenses needed to maintain our infrastructure.”
The focus of the meeting was on the wastewater deficit and a needed rate increase for the North Bend resident's wastewater monthly bill. Currently residents are paying $36.66 monthly, one of the lowest in the state. This is not enough explained Public Works Director Ralph Dunham in a presentation to the council, to cover the costs of the aging system, yearly maintenance and capital improvements. In perspective next door neighbor Coos Bay residents are paying $85.57 a month, Coquille $72.12 and Bandon sits at $49.40 for their monthly utility costs.
The priority of the proposal was to determine additional long-term funding for the city and to present options to increase fees to sustain the aging infrastructure.
Ralph Dunham went through the numbers in his presentation, beginning with explaining how old the system is and the need for updating. “Our biggest issue is our collection system. Our collection system design life is 50 years and 70 is about true average life.” Dunham went on to explain why this is a problem, “Right now 39% of our sewer system, our collection system, which is 51 miles of pipe, is 70 years old or older.” The current system last had a major overhaul in 1991 with the current plant designed for a population of 13k, currently the city is at 10,769 residents using the wastewater utilities with many new homes currently being built.
https://theworldlink.com/news/local/ballot-initiative-to-increase-north-bend-wastewater-utility-rates/article_c8004d00-5a67-11ef-a843-4327c8a0367f.html