(Portland, OR) Portland’s water and sewer rates continue to climb in spite of promises from public officials to reduce or even roll back recent increases and significant conservation efforts by its citizens.
With the proposed petition to place water and sewer management with a new government entity, City Club of Portland is forming a research committee to focus on three issues related to water and sewer rate setting: process, criteria and governance.
“This is an issue that has been bubbling up for years, and with a ballot measure likely in 2014, City Club wants to provide voters with unbiased community-based research and recommendations,” said City Club Research Board Chair Kathy Black.
This is not the first time City Club of Portland has studied issues related to water and sewer management. In 1958, City Club published Sewage Disposal and Drainage in the Portland Metropolitan Area.
For this report the committee is expected to:
- Outline the main contributors to rising costs and how these increases ultimately impact the rates paid by Portlanders
- Describe to the extent possible the impact each bureau’s multiple responsibilities and governance structure affects the rates paid by Portland Citizens
- Explain how sources of water may nor may not affect the rate charged to the end user
- Recommend whether or not City Club should support the proposed ballot measure to split water and sewer management responsibility off from the City of Portland into a separate independent organization based on the conclusions reached in answering the three questions above.
The study is to be completed by March 2014.
