Everett’s water, sewer, and stormwater utility rates will increase on February 1, to fund key replacements and upgrades, according to a city announcement.
The Everett City Council adopted the four-year rate increase ordinance at their January 8 meeting, following a briefing on the matter in December.
The rate hike will finance critical projects, including upgrading aging infrastructure and constructing new wastewater facilities to meet Department of Ecology requirements.
According to Ryan Sass, public works director, the utility reduced the number of capital projects to keep rates as low as possible while still meeting operational requirements.
He also noted that “construction costs to replace, upgrade and build new critical facilities was made greater by the historically high construction inflation costs we’ve faced since 2021.”
Critical projects include the construction of an $80 million new drinking water Reservoir 3.
The current reservoir is more than 100 years old, past its useful life, and has a roof that will likely fail in a large earthquake.
The city’s 40-year-old water filtration plant also requires $38 million in mechanical system upgrades.
To comply with an Ecology Agreed Order to reduce combined sewer overflows into Port Gardner Bay, Everett is building a new underground sewer storage tank at an estimated cost of $40 million and redeveloping the old Kimberly-Clark industrial wastewater treatment plant.
This new Port Gardner Storage Facility and associated projects are estimated to cost $200 million.
Single-family water and filtration rates will increase from $30.31 in 2024 to $32.21 in 2025. Sewer and surface water rates will rise from $92.12 to $104.04 over the same period.
A complete list of rates and additional information can be found on the utility’s website.
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