Newmarket council balks at plan to massively hike water rates

Town staff say annualized seven per cent water hikes over next decade needed due to inflation, council asks for other options

Newmarkettoday.ca
June 28, 2023
Joseph Quigley

Newmarket council balked at raising water and wastewater rates by 70 per cent over the next decade and instead asked staff to find alternatives.

Staff put forward a plan to raise water and wastewater by seven per cent annually over the next decade, which could escalate average water bills from about $1,459 in 2024 to $2,682 by 2033, based on 200 cubic metres of annual usage. The report said increases are necessary to meet the challenges of rising inflation.

But Mayor John Taylor said there should be other options to explore and the matter is not too time-sensitive.

“These are not numbers staff are imagining, or worried might become a reality one day, they are reality on the street right now,” Taylor said, but added that the town could address stormwater more head on, “so the water-wastewater rate is not being impacted as greatly.”

The staff report said the town finances are impacted by construction costs inflating by 30 per cent across 2021 and 2022. That inflation means the town has to adjust its financial planning, the report said, with raising water rates a method to do so. The report also recommends stormwater increases of 10 per cent annually over the next decade, which could more than double an average annual bill from $61 to $144.

“The proposed increases achieve fiscal sustainability by meeting the operating and asset replacement requirements over the 10-year period,” the report said.

But Taylor said the town could spend more time deciding and evaluating risks over the next couple of years before committing to a 10-year plan.

“We have time to see how it materializes,” Taylor said. “That might give us a greater insight and may even show that our assets potentially have more life in them than the current formula.”

Still, Taylor said staff is correct in pointing out that inflation will be a problem and necessitate adjusted plans.

“They will impact our capital plan over the next decade,” Taylor said.