It looks like water, both to drink and to get rid of, is going to cost more in South Salt Lake. City leaders recently had culinary and wastewater rates studies done—and the results show that without rate increases (or in the case of wastewater, impact fees for new development) the city won’t have the funds to maintain the systems and to pay for needed infrastructure such as well replacement and renewal.

“We want to think about prudent financial metrics, so thinking about how we fund our annual renewal and replacement or maintenance of that existing infrastructure that's there today that provides service as well as maintaining target minimum reserve levels so cash in the bank for emergencies, future capital,” consultant Sean Karun told the city council in a May 28 work session.

On June 11, based on recommendations from the culinary water study by HDR, the city council voted unanimously to increase the culinary water rates by 20% for each of the next three years and by 5.5% for the following two years. 

Current rates generate just $975,000 per year, leaving a shortfall for the city to fund infrastructure projects, Karun said at the May 28 meeting.

“When you think about that it feels like that's a lot of money but that's not even a good-sized capital project in the water utility but it's starting to take care of those annual everyday needs that have to happen on the system,” he said.

South Salt Lake City will need to borrow significant additional funds to pay for some of the capital projects such as replacing the Price Avenue well which is anticipated to cost about $8.5 million. 

City officials looked at three options for restructuring the culinary water rate; keeping it the same but no longer including usage in the fixed service charge for the first customer tier; having all customer classes continue to pay same rate structure but increasing the usage rates or having two separate rate structures for residential and all other customers. The consultants recommended the city adopt the last option which the city council approved June 11. The increased commercial rate structure was expected to go into effect July 1 followed by a new residential rate structure in January 2026. 

“It's never quite popular to do increases especially when you're serving on the city council but when it comes to infrastructure there's usually two approaches that a city can make,” Councilmember Ray deWolfe said. “They can either do nothing and hope for the best or do something which may not always be popular and plan for the worst. So I think with this action we're planning for the worst and always hoping for the best and it puts us in a financial position where we know that costs are coming. We know that our water is critical infrastructure for our city and we know that we're still going to be very competitive among other cities in the area, and it's in my opinion just responsible.”

On July 1, the city was also expected to release Eye on Water, a new app to help residents track their water consumption.

The findings from the city’s wastewater (sewer) study also indicate an increase there is necessary. This would primarily be felt in the form of increased impact fees by those constructing new homes in South Salt Lake. As the name indicates, impact fees are charged on new construction to cover the cost of how it will impact city services and are usually passed on to the buyers.

The new fees would apply to all new construction in South Salt Lake except for in the Downtown East Streetcar Sewer Public Infrastructure District (PID). This special service district was formed in 2023 to upgrade the sewer system in the area around Burton Avenue and Main Street. Residents in that area pay separate taxes to fund these improvements.

If approved, wastewater impact fees in the PID would increase from $1,063 to $1,160 for each new connection. In areas outside the PID the increase would be significant, going from $1,063 to $11,560 per connection, according to materials provided in the May 28 city council packet.

Wastewater impact fees were last updated in 2014. 

“Since that time, construction costs have risen substantially due to a number of factors, including material shortages, labor shortages, and supply chain constraints,” the study said. “There are several growth-related capital improvements anticipated to be needed in the next 10 years, so the calculated impact fee is based on anticipated capital facility projects as well as existing excess capacity and documented historic costs.”   

The city council is expected to address this issue in the coming months.