Arvada weighs $11.73 monthly utility increase for typical household in 2027

Arvada’s City Council is weighing a proposal that would add $11.73 per month to the 2027 water, wastewater and stormwater bill for a typical residential customer using 90,000 gallons of water a year.

The proposal, presented at a July 28 workshop, would increase that customer’s bill by $5.90 for water, $3.33 for wastewater and $2.50 for stormwater. The council took no final action. The July 28 workshop presentation and discussion were part of the rate-setting process, not an approval.

Proposed schedule and rates

Staff said the proposal is the fourth step in a process that will return to the council for workshops Aug. 25 and in September. Presentations on possible adoption are scheduled for Oct. 6 and Oct. 20. Those dates were still upcoming as of July 30.

If adopted, the changes would begin with 2027 billing. Arvada bills water, sewer and stormwater every two months, and annual rate adjustments take effect with the first bill of the year, the city says.

The proposed changes are:

• Water: a $4 increase in the bi-monthly fixed fee and an 8% increase in the volumetric rate, for a stated total increase of 9.2%.
• Wastewater: a $3 increase in the bi-monthly fixed fee and a 6.25% volumetric increase, for a stated total increase of 8.9%.
• Stormwater: a 35% volumetric increase, averaging $2.50 per month, or $5 per bi-monthly bill, for the typical household.

The plan would increase the share of revenue collected through fixed fees to at least 20% in each utility fund. Staff said fixed fees currently account for 16% of water revenue and 12% of wastewater revenue. The proposal would not change the city’s tiered rate structure.

Projects and unanswered questions

Staff said the recommended plan would fund all projects classified as red, orange or yellow under the city’s utility-prioritization system. The three funds contain 95 projects; 44 were completed or finishing during the quarter and 14 were under construction, staff said.

Staff cited a red water-line project serving two neighborhoods with 85 reported breaks and a critical health care facility, including a dialysis center, on a single water feed. An orange project called the “28 waterline” involved about 50 breaks across two neighborhoods. Yellow projects are proactive replacements for infrastructure nearing the end of its useful life.

Council members asked staff to show what would be funded under plans covering only red projects or red and orange projects. They also requested a comparison with the city’s earlier 10-year rate trajectory, a total household bill rather than just the increase, and more detail on potential Denver Water surcharges.

That comparison was not yet complete. Staff said the city’s long-range roadmap projected roughly 12% to 14% annual rate-and-fee adjustments beginning in 2022, while actual increases in recent years were below those forecasts. Arvada’s utility-transparency page lists adopted 2025 and 2026 rate actions, but the underlying tables were not available in the accessible record used for this report. The $11.73 figure therefore can be compared directionally with the earlier forecast, not with a verified year-by-year total bill under identical assumptions.

Nearby cities use different billing structures, limiting direct comparisons. Westminster reported that its 2025-26 water and sewer schedule would increase the average resident’s cost by $3.47 per month in winter and $6.14 in summer. Golden approved 6.2% water and wastewater increases effective Jan. 1, 2026. Denver uses different minimums and impervious-area or monthly-consumption measures for storm-drainage and wastewater charges. Those figures provide context, not a ranking.

The $11.73 estimate applies only to the city’s typical residential example. Because water and wastewater bills combine fixed and volumetric charges, customers using more or less water will see different increases. Commercial, multifamily, irrigation and other customer classes have different schedules, and the accessible workshop record did not include their full 2027 bill calculations. Stormwater charges also vary by property or service measure.

Staff told the council that customer protections include hardship credits, payment plans and equalization billing. The city also discussed a future bill credit tied to its resident tax-rebate program and conservation programs such as leak alerts, Garden in a Box, lawn replacement and sprinkler evaluations. Staff said ION smart-meter installations were about 84% complete and expected to finish in the first quarter of 2027.

The Utilities Stewardship Community Group is expected to begin meeting in August, initially focusing on water and the treatment plant. The council will review the requested comparisons before deciding whether to adopt, revise or reject the proposed rate schedule later this year.