CHUBBUCK — Water, sewer and sanitation fees in Chubbuck will increase for the first time since 2011 following a unanimous vote from the City Council on Sept 14.

The council approved a 10 percent increase to water fees, a 4 percent increase to sewer fees and a pass-through fee increase to sanitation services of around 20 percent after Bannock County increased the cost per ton at the local landfill from about $29 to $35, according to council member Dan Heiner.

The fee increases were approved to ensure the city could cover the operating costs for each utility and to slightly bolster the capital improvement fund for future infrastructure needs, said Heiner, adding that the council acted to ensure the city was more prepared for expected growth and upcoming projects.

“We are required to cover our operating expenses and we have some capital improvement projects down the road that we don’t want to end up in trouble like we were about 10 years ago with the Northwest Sewer Interceptor Project,” Heiner said. “We were completely out of capacity and that was a huge expense that we planned to pay with connection fees from outside of city limits but within the impact area. That happened in 2008 right as the recession hit and all of the expansion that was exploding at the time just shut right off. It fell off a cliff. That really caused an issue for us and so we are trying to plan ahead a little bit so we don’t get into that boat again.”

The approved 10 percent increase to water fees was about 5 percent less than what was recommended in a study the Boise-based FCS group conducted for Chubbuck over the past two years. The study provided Chubbuck with a long-term financial plan through fiscal year 2040 with a strong focus on the next five years.

Heiner said the council felt more comfortable approving a smaller increase to water for the next fiscal year to cover all operating expenses and a slight increase to the water capital improvement fund with plans to revisit the plan next year so the city can further prepare for additional growth and continue paying debt associated with the Northwest Sewer Interceptor Project.

Funded from four loans from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Northwest Sewer Interceptor cost $17.5 million, says Chubbuck Public Works Director Rodney Burch. The loans are zero percent interest with 20-year terms that are staggered in time over a few years. The loans originated between 2010 and 2015 which places the payoff dates between 2030 and 2035.

The current total loan balance is approximately $11 million, Burch added.

“The project was studied, designed and constructed by a regional sewer district known as the Chubbuck Impact Area Wastewater Collection Authority,” Burch said. “By joint powers agreement, the authority was formed with the cities of Chubbuck and Pocatello as well as Bannock County. Most of the system construction actually occurred in county jurisdiction and was intended to serve both county development and Chubbuck growth. In addition to allowing growth, the primary focus was to eliminate septic systems in county developments to protect sensitive groundwater in north Bannock County.”

Burch continued, “By agreement, Chubbuck assumed the responsibility for the financial obligation with debt service revenue being created by sewer connection fees by both county and city development. In 2020, Bannock County withdrew from the agreement and no longer requires development to connect to the system. As you can imagine, county policy to allow growth on septic systems has created a significant risk to groundwater. The county decision also has a financial impact by reducing the number of connections that contribute to the debt service revenue.”

In total, the increase to water and sewer fees work out to about a $5 increase per utility payer, Heiner said.

“We recognize that if we don’t do some long-range capital planning we’ll run into the same scenario we had when we had to take the nearly $18 million loan out to put the Northwest Sewer Interceptor Project in,” said Chubbuck Mayor Kevin England. “You can never capitalize enough to put away that kind of money but you can at least have a start so that you don’t have to bond for projects when they get there.”

England continued, “We’re trying to be responsible to the citizens to recognize as we grow we won’t have to make any knee-jerk reactions.”