That’s after the Juneau Assembly voted in June to increase residential water and sewer rates by 5% this fiscal year. The rate will continue to increase by 5% annually for the next five years.
City officials say the increments are needed to help offset hundreds of millions of dollars in replacements and repairs for the city’s water and sewer system in the coming decade.
Juneau’s utility rates have gone up 2% each year since 2020, but those increases haven’t kept pace with inflation or maintenance needs. The increases approved by the Assembly in June are higher than that, but still much less than what the Juneau Water Utilities Division originally proposed and what studies recommend.
The Assembly recently voted down a ballot question for this year’s election that would have asked voters to help fund the repairs using $8 million in bond debt to offset more drastic rate hikes down the line. Members decided to postpone the question, potentially for next year’s election.
