The Town of Eaton recently changed the way your monthly water bill is calculated – moving from a single-tier to a multiple-tier rate structure. So, what does this mean for typical water users living in Eaton? Let us explain.
Prior to April, all residential water users were charged a base rate of $49.12 per month up to 4,000 gallons of potable water, every additional thousand gallons used was charged $7.99 per thousand. Essentially, everyone was paying the same amount for water, regardless of how much they were using, requiring low-water users to subsidize the high-water users, with little incentive to conserve water. For context, most households use less than 4,000 gallons of indoor water monthly. Higher water usage is usually attributed to outdoor water use and peaks during warm summer months, usually in June, July and August.
Since April, the Town raised the monthly base rate for the first 4,000 gallons to $58.09 and utilizes a tiered water use structure above 5,000 gallons, where the more water you use, the more you pay. While the base rate increased, the tiered usage from 5,000-10,000 gallons went down. See the comparison chart below.
All residential households have a 5/8” or ¾” meter (with few exceptions for multifamily). Based on the old water rates, every meter size was charged the same base rate. Now, meters 1” or larger are also charged a tiered base rate as follows:
Why did Eaton change their water rate structure?
A tiered water use structure means that higher water users pay their fair share of the cost and encourages water conservation efforts.
Why did the Town increase water and sewer rates?
The Town buys its water wholesale from North Weld County Water District, who has continued to raise their rates. In 2023, the Town conducted a comprehensive water, wastewater, and non-potable rate study which revealed that the previous utility rates did not sufficiently cover all necessary operational and maintenance costs.
As rates and the cost to maintain these systems increase, it’s important for the Town to plan for current and future repair and maintenance needs, and to ensure proper investments in our water and wastewater infrastructure.
What do your town water and wastewater fees fund?
Revenue generated from your water and wastewater bill can only be used to cover regular operations, maintenance, capital replacement, and reinvestment costs. Additionally, revenue collected from water use can only be used to maintain the water system and revenue collected from wastewater fees can only be used to maintain the wastewater system. It would be illegal for the Town to allocate these funds for any other purpose.