Marina Blatt reports from the Oak Harbor City Council’s workshop meeting of Tue., June 17, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.
The rate that Oak Harbor residents pay for city-provided utilities will increase by 5.4% a year for the next five years under a new rate analysis.
If adopted by the city council, the total amount a resident pays for water, sewer, solid waste and storm drain would increase from the current amount of about $199 a month to about $252 by 2030.
At a workshop meeting Wednesday [sic], council members grilled Deputy City Administrator and Finance Director David Goldman about possible ways to lower rate increases, but he didn’t see anyway around it. The rates will have to increase in order to keep utility funds solvent, he said. Many of the factors causing rate increases are beyond the city’s control.
Ed. Note: Ms. Blatt incorrectly stated that the meeting was held on a Wednesday, presumably June 18. The meeting was held on Tuesday, June 17.
They Said It
Councilmember Bryan Stucky questioned Goldman about options.
“Obviously, raising the rates is the logical answer, but there’s no other magic that you know of to not increase rates?” he asked. “I know the answer is no, but I have to ask the question.”
The city staff works to obtain grants and inter-governmental funds, but there is not a substantial amount of money out there to help cover operational costs, Goldman responded.
“We may be able to come back maybe in two or three years, depending on the result of that and say hey, remember we said we are going to raise (rates) by 5%, well we only need to go up by 3.5% or 4%,” Goldman said.
Stucky asked whether simply encouraging water conservation would help, but he was told that reduced usage wouldn’t lower the fixed costs associated with piping and treatment infrastructure. Over the past 10 to 15 years, overall water usage has remained steady, Public Works Director Steve Schuller explained.
Mayor Pro Tempore Tara Hizon wondered if the city is profiting from increased utility rates.
“As far as legally goes, we cannot use water or wastewater or any of the utility fund money for anything other than the purpose of those funds,” Goldman said.
The money is limited to funding only the operations, maintenance and service support of that utility, Goldman expanded.
While the factors that increase water rates and tipping fees are mostly out of the city’s control, there is a way to avoid raising rates by instead cutting funding for future major infrastructure upgrades and replacements, Councilmember Jim Woessner noted.
“Which, quite frankly, I think, would be ludicrous. I mean, it’s what caught us to where we were a few years ago when being faced with building out some major infrastructure and having no money to do it,” Woessner said.
Mayor Ronnie Wright agreed with Woessner, calling it “crazy” to cut those funds and emphasized the importance of planning for the future to leave the institution better than they found it.
On the Ballot in November 2025
| CITY OF OAK HARBOR |
|---|
| Councilmember, Position 4 Barbara Armes |
| Councilmember, Position 5 James P. Marrow, the incumbent Brit Kraner Marrow was appointed to replace Shane Hoffmire until the results of the election are certified in November. |
| Councilmember, Position 6 Andy Plumlee Sandi Peterson Incumbent Jim Woessner did not file for another term. |
| Councilmember, Position 7 Bryan Stucky |
