SEQUIM — Sequim City Council members agreed this month to increase utility rates and general facility charges starting in 2026 each year through 2030.
Under the resolution, water rates will increase 5.5 percent, sewer rates 4.5 percent, and general facility charges (GFCs), a one-time charge for new developments to connect to city utilities, by 3 percent.
City staff estimate most households using up to 500 cubic feet of water and sewer services will see about a $5 increase per month in 2026.
To connect a new single-family development to water and sewer next year, a GFC would cost about $473 more, according to a city fact sheet.
City council members approved the resolution 6-1 at the July 14 meeting with Mayor Brandon Janisse opposed, saying he’s struggled with supporting utility increases.
“I understand the need for the increases and where they go … (but) I don’t like these numbers. They’re way too high for me,” he said.
“We sit there and talk about how well it is for the city, and good year after year, but what about those in the community … (increases to residents) add up year after year (and for) those in the community that live paycheck to paycheck or on a fixed income, those hurt.”
Public Works Director Paul Bucich said he appreciated Janisse’s position as he isn’t excited about paying higher rates either.
“I also believe (the rate increases are) 100 percent warranted,” he said.
“If we don’t do this in three years, we will need a 6, 7 or 8 percent increase, or push out critical projects beyond their true risk and liability, and that concerns me.
“Nothing blows your budget faster than a project that fails. Then you’ll have to push other projects out.”
Planning
City staff shared various models of proposed increases in a June 9 work session via its new Waterworth utility software.
Bucich said at the meeting that the city would have a shortfall for its water and sewer projects in a few years, and it would either require a significant utility-rate increase then, or a reduction in projects, services and/or staff along with delaying projects and not following state and federal permitting requirements.
In 2024, city council members agreed to continue a 3 percent rate increase for this year to utilities following a 2020 rate study that proposed a 4 percent water and 2 percent sewer rate increase through 2030.
On July 14, Bucich said the city’s utilities have not been keeping up with costs, i.e. staffing, construction projects and operational (materials, supplies), and they must plan for future expenditures while meeting reserve standards.
Sequim Finance Director Sue Hagener wrote in an email that the city’s utility reserves are based on a formula. The water reserves must currently be between a minimum $818,000 and a maximum of $1.445 million, and they are now at $911,000. Sewer reserves are set at a minimum standard of $1.475 million and a maximum of $2.605 million, and they are now at about $2.232 million.
Bucich said in June the new software allows them to look decades ahead so “that we don’t have to ask for a massive rate increase.”
City Manager Matt Huish said it also helps save the city money as it won’t need to hire a utility consultant.
“We’re doing a lot more investigative work on our water and our sewer asset infrastructure, and I fully expect that we’re going to find new information, I don’t want to call surprises, but new information that’s going to help us better program the replacement and repair of our work moving forward in the future,” Bucich said.
He also said Sequim’s water and sewer rates are cheaper than sister cities and will continue to be so because the city draws from groundwater, and cities that don’t charge GFCs typically have higher utility rates.
Bucich said Sequim’s GFCs follow the mindset that new developments should pay to join an existing system and help pay for its maintenance.
He said Sequim’s utility rates will still be “well below” those of Port Angeles and Port Townsend in five years.
“We’re not taking it out of your pocket,” Bucich said. “We’re using this to make sure you have clean, healthy, potable water, and that we take your waste product and we deal with it appropriately. So we are giving you a service that I think is well worth the money.”
Staff said the utility software allows them to do more frequent assessments of utilities and costs, and that new water meters allow residents to better track their usage and expenses.
Low-income discount
Sequim currently has 53 customers using Sequim’s low-income utility discount, but staff said they take applications throughout the year despite a deadline each January.
For more information, visit sequimwa.gov/440/Low-Income-Utility-Discount.
Hagener said the discount cuts base charges in half, and residents who already receive a senior discount on their property taxes or disability taxes likely already qualify, along with those living at 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
Rates
According to the city’s “2025 Basic Utility Rate Information” sheet, the base rate for water at a single-family home is $29.84 with charges varying at usage up to 600 cubic feet, 601-1,600 cubic feet and 1,601 cubic feet and up. Multifamily homes are charged a $28.34 base charge.
The sewer base charge is $64.88 for a single-family home, $61.64 for a multifamily home and $68,51 for a home with sewer-only services in city limits. Commercial rates depend on pipe size for water and sewer and usage.
Sequim sewer/water projects
Some of the city’s current capital sewer and water projects in progress include:
• Doe Run Road lift station replacement
• West Sequim Bay Road corridor improvement
• Replacement of manholes on Washington Harbor Loop
• West Spruce Street parking lot construction
• Silberhorn Road deep well
• City shop expansion
• West Spruce Street parking lot construction
• Reservoir Road water main and booster station
Some future sewer and water projects include:
• Pavement rehabilitation
• Direct potable reuse water study
• Bell Street rehabilitation
• Guy Cole Event Center sewer lines replacement/parking lot overlay
• City fuel station
• Citywide security water/sewer sites
• East Fir Street rehabilitation from North Brown Road to North Blake Avenue
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
