The city of Battle Ground recently announced approved increases to utility rates with fees for water, sewer and stormwater drainage increasing in 2019.
The rate changes include a restructuring of the water utility payment scale as well as increases to per-unit costs in sewer and to the base rate for stormwater, according to city staff. Increases range from an average of 97 cents monthly for water to $4.79 monthly for sewer, with a flat increase to the stormwater rate of $1.59 monthly.
The city has changed water to a tiered rate schedule which includes a base fee of $10.85 with additional units of water going from $1.74 for the first six, $2.49 per unit for the next six and $3.99 per unit for each additional one. A unit of water works out to about 749 gallons according to city staff.
In calculating the estimated 97-cent monthly increase, the city used an average household that used eight units monthly. In calculating the new sewer rate the city used an average of six units per household monthly — the volume of a unit is determined by averaging water consumption of users from December through March of the previous year, according to city staff.
Stormwater rates are flat for most homeowners in the city, with the monthly fee being $12.08 next year, according to city staff.
More information about utility rates can be found at cityofbg.org/479/Service-Rates.
