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It will mark the final year in a five-year plan LOTT officials approved in 2007 to boost the sewer fee $1.50 per year and the connection fee $150 annually.
The new LOTT monthly charge would be $33, raising money for the utility’s operating budget and, to a lesser degree, capital-improvement projects.
The 2012 cost of connecting to the regional sewer system would be $4,519.20 for a residential customer, with much of the money raised used to pay for projects to accommodate growth in the sewer system. The sewer-hookup fee also would jump $64.10 per year through 2019, based on a board decision in 2002 to help pay for capital-improvement projects through 2019.
The Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater and Thurston County (LOTT) utility serves about 98,515 sewer customers in the region. The individual jurisdictions set their own, separate sewer-service fees for collecting wastewater and delivering it to the LOTT regional system for treatment, disposal and reuse.
With the five-year rate plan drawing to a close next year, the LOTT board, which consists of four elected officials from the three cities and county, has yet to land on a future financing plan.
However, a similar annual rate increase is likely to be needed in 2013, with perhaps a smaller one in 2014, said LOTT executive director Mike Strub.
LOTT is about to start work on a new six-year strategic plan and faces roughly $100 million in Budd Inlet treatment plant equipment upgrades and expansion projects over the next eight to 10 years, Strub said.
“I think we have a pretty decent picture for the ratepayers over the next six years,” he said.
The resolution slated for action tonight fulfills a requirement that LOTT notify its member jurisdictions of rate increases by Aug. 31 of the year before they go into effect.
John Dodge: 360-754-5444 jdodge@theolympian.com
