City eyes $65K water rate study

COEUR d’ALENE — The city of Coeur d’Alene is planning to spend $65,000 to review what it charges for water.

The General Services/Public Works Committee on Monday unanimously approved a request for an agreement with FCS Group to prepare a 2023-24 water rate study.

“When we do a rate study, does that necessarily mean there’s going to be a rate hike?” asked Councilman Christie Wood in the Library Community Room.

Water Department Superintendent Kyle Marine said it does not.

“You have to make enough money off the water you sell to maintain the system,” he said.

When the city paid for its last water rate study five years ago, it resulted in 2.5% annual price increases, which remain in effect until April 1, 2024.

Marine said the city prefers smaller increases over time rather than a larger one.

“We try to keep it as low impact as possible,” he said.

Marine recently took over as superintendent when Terry Pickel retired. He has worked with the city for about 20 years, the last seven as assistant superintendent in the water department before his promotion.

The study will help make sure it is not overcharging or undercharging customers, Marine said.

“The main goal of this is to make sure we have adequate income to maintain the system for the future,” and take care of any needs for equipment, pipes and materials, he said.

He said the city does its best to save money and apply for grants.

The city, even with the cooler fall weather, is pumping about 20 to 25 million gallons a day. In the hottest summer days, it pumped around 35 to 40 million. Most of that was for watering lawns.

The city has about 22,000 water service connections. It’s online to pump more than five billion gallons of water this year.

Coeur d’Alene is projected to be home to about 75,000 people in 2025, so demand for water is only expected to increase.

The city considered water-use restrictions this summer when all 11 wells were in use, but Marine said the city would prefer not to go that route.

Coeur d'Alene's current single-family rate is $1.09 per 1,000 gallons up to 30,000 gallons. It increases to $1.57 per 1,000 gallons from 31,000 to 50,000 gallons and $2.14 after 51,000 gallons.

Marine said in working with developers and others, a common comment about the city’s water rates is, “It’s cheap water.”

Councilman Dan English said the city relies on user fees, such as water rates, wherever they are appropriate. If they don’t charge enough to cover costs, the city might end up subsidizing the situation with property taxes.

“We don’t want that,” English said.

The City Council must still approve the expenditure for the rate study, which is expected to take several months.

Marine said he would like it to be completed by April 1.

He said higher rates would not necessarily mean people would use less water.

He said in his experience, water use initially drops after a rate hike, but gradually, and sometimes quickly, returns to previous use levels.

“A lot of people just aren’t interested (in saving water)," Marine said. "It’s very inexpensive."

He said the city wants to promote water conservation through educational efforts.