May 15—CHEYENNE — The Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities is seeking to raise rates for water and sewer services in 2025 by 10% and 8%, respectively.
On average, this price hike would up monthly rates by between $2 and $9 for the typical residential consumer.
This comes after the BOPU increased rates by 8% for water services and 10% for sewer, the inverse of this year’s increases, for 2024. In previous years, between 2021 and 2023, BOPU typically increased rates between 3% and 5%.
There are a variety of factors that led to the push for continued rate increases, BOPU officials said, including the increased cost of living and inflation.
“We’re seeing a substantial increase in construction costs, chemical prices, regulatory guidelines that are going to require us to do some overhauling and rehab, those kinds of things,” said Erin Lamb, administrative and public affairs coordinator for BOPU. “It’s generally the same thing across any industry right now: it’s the cost of inflation.”
The proposed rate changes come as a result of recommendations from an outside party, SCS Water Advisory Services, to maintain the cost of services. Lamb said SCS has been working with BOPU since around 2020.
Rate changes first come before the BOPU board of directors. Once approved, BOPU brings the changes to the City Council for approval. At Monday’s meeting, the item came before the governing body on first reading and was assigned to the council’s Finance Committee, where it will be further discussed next Monday.
Following that, it will come before City Council again, and Lamb said she expects the changes to go through by June 10.
While BOPU does not directly control the rates that South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District charges, it is likely that those customers will see a similar increase, as the rate SCWSD pays BOPU will increase, as well.
All revenue generated from water and sewer rates is reinvested back into the construction, maintenance and operation of Cheyenne’s water and sewer system, according to the BOPU website. All day-to-day operating costs and unplanned work, such as water main leaks, are paid solely by rates and fees, not taxes.
Most homes have a 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch water meter. For those meters, monthly service fees for water lines from January 2023 to January 2024 increased 8% from $6.75 to $7.29, and monthly service fees for sewer meters increased 10% from $5.76 to $6.34 in the same timeframe. If approved, those rates will increase to $8.02 and $6.85 for water and sewer meters, respectively, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
Total monthly charges depend on usage, and factors like lawn size, the number of people within a household or business, and other water use habits.
Water charges represent all the potable water used during a month, including water outside of the property. Water users pay a rate which is measured in 1,000-gallon increments. The BOPU has a tiered rate structure; the more water used, the higher the bill will be at the end of the month.
As proposed, the volume rate charge per 1,000 gallons of water used by homeowners would increase from $5.29 to $5.82 for the first 6,000 gallons; from $6.53 to $7.18 for the next 18,000 gallons; from $8.12 to $8.93 for the next 18,000 gallons; and from $10.11 to $11.12 for all water use over 42,000 gallons a month. Commercial and industrial customers would see their water rate rise from $6.05 to $6.65 per 1,000 gallons used.
Residential sewer rates are proposed to increase from $6.24 to $6.74 per 1,000 gallons. Commercial rates would rise from $6.36 to $6.87, while industrial rates would go from $6.40 to $6.91 (large-volume commercial and industrial users would go from $6.25 to $6.75).
During the summer months, many customers have a higher water bill, often due to an increase in water use outside the property. Usage is measured through the water meter.
Sewer charges represent all of the water that drains to the sewer system from the property and is piped to water reclamation facilities. Residential and business sewer rates include both variable and fixed charges.
Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
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