Lincoln Council approves utility increases following heated debate

The Lincoln City Council adopted the city's water, wastewater and sewage utility increases at the Aug. 8 council meeting after some heated discussion between Mayor Paul Joiner, councilmember Holly Andreatta and councilmember Bill Lauritsen. Starting Oct. 1, residents will see a significant increase in their utility rates. For residential solid waste collection, the rate will be set at $29.36, then increase to $33.17 in July 2024, $37.46 in July 2025, $38.58 in July 2026 and $39.73 in July 2027. For water, the rate will be set for residents between $26.99-$125.03, depending on meter size this year, then increase 3 percent per year through 2027. According to the staff report, residents with a three-quarter-inch water meter are seeing up to a 92-percent increase in their bills. For wastewater, the rate for residents will be set at $31.59, which is actually a decrease from the original $32.08 fixed rate. It will then increase in July 2024 to $33.17, $34.83 in July 2025, $36.58 in July 2026 and $38.41 in July 2027. According to the staff report, the rate increases, as part of enterprise funds, "are not permitted to make a profit and they may only charge and collect revenues to cover the cost of providing the service," therefore the rates rising will not go toward new development. According to City Manager Sean Scully, "There has been a tremendous underinvestment in infrastructure and R&R, which we call Rehab and Replacement." He said the city has struggled with rate increases, "whether it be getting them approved or keeping them in place, for about 25 years." Without immediate rate changes, Scully said the funds could go "structurally bankrupt" as soon as 18 months, or as far out as 24 to 30 months. Scully said the city tries to find the "absolute minimum" they can request. Many residents have suggested they find grants to help. "There are grants out there for infrastructure projects, but there are no grants out there generally for water systems that need to be right-sized," Scully said. "We do pursue grants for all of our utilities, and if we were able to run the utility on fortunate grant awards, that would've been our number one option. It simply is not one that we view as reasonable, given the gravity of the fund's position today." Many Lincoln residents spoke during the public hearing regarding concerns with the rate increases. New resident to Lincoln Joseph Hill said, "It sounds like there was a misappropriation of funds or neglect" over an "extended period of time." Hill expressed he wanted to know the "extent of neglect" by the City Council. Resident Andrew Davis said, "I'm all for a modest increase, but this increase is just ridiculous." Davis suggests that rate increases like this should be a bond to be voted on, "not a flyer where you hope it gets to the house. … I almost discarded it as junk mail, and I'm sure many residents disregarded it as junk mail." Longtime Lincoln resident Byron Chapman prided himself in the documents he's collected over the years of his bills. In his findings, he said there have been five rate increases within the last 10 years. "I would like to propose, at least, whatever we agree upon, really should be equally stretched out so that everyone knows what's coming," Chapman suggested. A Lincoln woman who did not identify herself said she "completely understands" the need to raise rates, however, she identifies the neglect in wastewater treatment, saying, "If we haven't raised rates in 13 years, how did we let this go for so long to have our treatment side not being taken care of? That's a great concern to how we're managing our facilities, and I almost feel like the buck's being passed on to the ratepayers because the people we have entrusted to use the funds responsibly, and to make sure that facilities are running the way they should, have let us down. And, we're caught basically picking up the pieces and paying a lot of money for it." Resident Ken Cheshire, who recently moved to Lincoln, expressed he is on a fixed income, so the utility rate increase does not benefit him. He echoed the same sentiment as Chapman, saying, "I think what you need to do, if you're going to increase it, do it gradually." Lincoln business owner Stacey Quezada said the rate increase "really hurts." She runs a childcare business from her home. She shared she moved to Lincoln from the Bay Area "for the community. I went from making over 200 percent to 20 percent of my income to live in a better community, and for the community to do this to family child care and all Lincoln residents is just wrong," Quezada tearfully said. According to the City of Lincoln's Utility Rate Vote, 1,384 protests were filed of a total 24,001 customers. Councilmember Dan Karleskint began the conversation among the council, saying, "Changing the front-loading of the system of the rates, if we were in a position where we weren't precariously close to a structural deficit, then that would be something that would be an option. … The risk is not worth it." During public comment, some residents questioned the care of the council. Andreatta responded, "Let me just say emphatically that I do care." She also recognized that many residents are unhappy with the amount of new homes being built in the city, saying, "New development has nothing to do with the utility rates. … I don't like all the new houses, but I want to remind everybody that we are subject to state mandates. … I suggest you evaluate who you vote for for governor and state legislature." Councilmember Ben Brown also shared his care for the city. He also said he will be affected by the rate changes since he lives in Old Lincoln. "With three teenagers at home, I understand it," Brown said. "… I don't know how I'm going to take care of the increase for my family, but I can't not support it." Lauritsen called out Andreatta for mentioning the state mandates, saying, "Until tonight, I didn't realize that the responsibility for raising rates is the council. It's not the legislature's fault, it's the council's fault, OK?" As Lauritsen became visibly upset by the situation, Joiner attempted to speak over Lauritsen. Lauritsen replied, "I'm speaking now, Paul. Let me speak! You wanna change things? Change the council." After more arguing among Lauritsen, Joiner and Andreatta, Lauritsen said, "I'm sorry, Paul, this has gone too far!" Joiner assured the public, "You now have a staff that is the best I've ever seen, and they're not afraid to bring forward the hard issues. You can absolutely trust them; I do. I understand if those past decisions taint me a little bit, so be it. That's fair. But, I can tell you, each and every step along the way, those decisions were made absolutely with what was thought to be the best interest of the public. Once we found out (about the potential for bankruptcy), we absolutely had to focus on solving this. Staff's recommendation, though difficult, seems to be the only path forward." The council approved the rate increase in a 4-1 vote, Lauritsen voting no. The city previously announced it would need to raise water, wastewater and sewage rates to avoid bankruptcy at the June 13 City Council meeting, according to a previous Gold Mountain News article. The utility rate increases were also a topic of discussion at the July 11 Lincoln City Council meeting during public comment. According to City Attorney Kristine Mollenkopf at that meeting, the conversation lasted about 50 minutes despite the Brown Act prohibiting the council from speaking on non-agenda items, according to a previous Gold Mountain News article.