BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council tonight (June 15) approved an 8% increase on utility bills, costing the average resident $422 more per year.
Similar rate hikes are planned for the next four years. This increase is projected to bring in $28.6 million to build up reserves and finish infrastructure projects, like replacing old pipes and transformers.
“There’s a tradeoff between having healthy reserves and keeping rates as low as we can,” Councilman Keith Reckdahl said at the meeting.
The rate increase will affect customers differently depending on how much water, electricity and gas they use. Bills for sewers are going up 16%, and gas bills are going up 9%. Water bills are going up 8%, electricity is going up 4.5%, and trash pickup is going up 3%.
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