The Sammamish Plateau Water Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted increases to its water and sewer rates following a public hearing on the district’s 2017 budget Dec. 12 at its district office in Sammamish.

Customers will see a 4.8 percent increase in their water rate, which translates to a monthly increase of $2.73 for the average single-family residential consumer using 550 cubic feet per month.

Sewer rates will see a 2.5 percent increase, which would translate to a monthly increase of 83 cents for a single-family residential customer.

In a presentation of the drafted 2017 budget to the Board, Sammamish Plateau Water general manager Jay Krauss stated one of the driving factors for the rate increases was to provide funding for capital improvements and replacements. He said a 4.8 water rate increase in 2016 generated $12,643,694 of revenue while a 3 percent sewer rate increase generated $5,971,620.

“In 2016 and 2017, 26 cents of every $1 a rate-payer pays the district is going into reserves for future capital replacement,” Krauss said of the water rate increase, adding the district has seen an increase in its operations. “On the sewer side, in 2017, 29 cents of every $1 we collect from customers will be applied to future capital replacement.”

The board unanimously approved the district’s 2017 budget. During the budget presentation, Krauss said the district’s operating fund balance was up $4.2 million, showing a balance of over $16.1 million. The total budget balance was up about $11 million, with a 2016 ending fund balance of just over $58 million.

Krauss said the district was expecting a projected 2017 operating budget of $20.4 million, up 5.1 percent from the previous year.

“However, when we factor in capital and debt service, we have an overall decrease in the operating budget of 8.7 percent,” he added.

Among the district’s key initiatives for 2017, Krauss mentioned continuing its efforts to enhance customer service as a priority.

“We know we have issues of water quality that are emerging with the PFC issues in the lower Issaquah valley,” Krauss said. “One of the goals of the district is to make sure customers have peace of mind that we can deliver on our brand statement, which is, ‘Clean water is always there because we’re always here.’”

Krauss said a new element to the district budget was stewardship and sustainability, which he described as meaning asset management and setting revenue aside for future long-term capital replacement.

“Many of our assets exceed 100-year useful life. It really becomes a policy consideration. Do you wait for unknown assets to break or do you begin setting reserves aside today, which has been policy of the board,” he said. “We do some things that others don’t do and it does have a rate impact.”

Krauss said the district has $970 million of assets divided between water, sewer and joint assets. He said the district set aside $3.3 million in 2016 toward replacing water assets and will set aside $3.5 million in 2017.

“From a rate standpoint, if you take the $3.5 million we’re setting aside in 2017, every $127,000 of it equals 1 percent of a rate in revenue,” he said.

For sewer assets, the district set aside $1.3 million in 2016 and will set aside $1.8 million this year.

Prior to adopting the rate adjustments, Board President Lloyd Warren commented that while it could be “difficult” to collect money for future projects, he commended district staff for their work on the asset management.

“We are not just collecting money for money’s sake,” Warren said. “We know, with better certainty than any other organization I know, what those actual needs are gonna be in the future.”