Water Rate Hearing On Tap Based On Reports And Numbers With Last Minute Changes

WATER RATES ARE GOING UP SOON!  YOU ALL NEED TO TESTIFY AND SEND IN COMMENTS: SEE BELOW.

The Hillsboro Herald is the only news source covering Hillsboro’s ecalating water rates. That is because we live here, are hyper-local, and watch everything. We have been covering water rates and water-related issues like no one else.

That is why it feels so great to run a very accurate story about water rates, have thousands of reads, take in dozens of phone calls, and see that public engagement goes up massively.  Engagement is not a one-way YouTube video with the Mayor that only a few citizens watch.  Engagement is having 1000s of people read, learn, ask questions, comment in our chatway, and take civic action.  That is what engagement is and what Hillsboroites are starving for.  More on this below.

Ok, folks, here we go.  This Tuesday at 6 PM, there is another Hillsboro Utility Commission meeting.  Before the last meeting, the Hillsboro Herald, and special citizen reporter Charolyn Concepcion, broke down the proposed increases to our water rates.  Increases are coming, and it was an incredible effort for her to review hundreds of pages of water studies that Hillsboro water consultant HDR has provided.  Concepcion broke down the numbers, found huge holes in them, presented them, and was met by dismissal and some befuddled confusion by water staff.  The Herald reported her clear findings.  INDUSTRY, especially Intel, continue to pay less than their fair share.  We printed that and more.  The story hit 5,000 reads and was shared dozens of times.  Over 31 community comments were posted in the Heralds comments section; many were very detailed and thoughtful.

Many of you sent in comments and messages.  

Guess what? It worked. Hillsboro has now issued a new staff report after receiving public comment. They released a new Rate study summary, changing the study’s findings (cost of service %), but they did not change the proposed water rate increases. Residential is getting a higher increase than it should—a 5.7% rate increase instead of a 4.9%. At that same time we will all be paying more than our share, Industrial will be once again receiving a nice discount- 7.8% rate increase instead of the 10.7% that it should be paying.

Here is a graphic showing that.

• The September 10th, 2024 Water Rate Study Summary and the Proposed Increases.
• The September 15th, 2024 Hillsboro Herald Article Calling into Question those inequitable numbers.
• The September 19th, 2024, Altered Water Rate Study Summary is being presented for final vote.

Now look at the table presented in the September 10th, 2024, meeting by the Water Staff:

Here is another way to view the same data.  Table ES-4 above was provided at the September 10th meeting. Again, it is easy to see that the percentages are not making sense.  The rate increases are punitive to residential and favor industry. What is going on here?  Truly.

Below is the ES-4 table from the September 24th public meeting agenda. Magically, those numbers changed a few days after the Herald article increased public comment and scrutiny. Suddenly, a new table came out, and we know the data did not change at all.

Good Old Industrial and Large Industrial are being coddled with a considerable discount below the costs they burden the systems with.  The bottom line is that you pay, and they get a discount.

Our Utility Commissioners are intelligent and thoughtful. This deception is not about them at all. It falls on the water staff and whoever is playing with these numbers. There is Bias here—I am sure we all see that. Their job is to call it out now, level the playing field, and assign exact numbers—%of Costs of Service =% of the proposed increase. Period.  It is the only conclusion that can be reached and called equitable.

There will be many questions.  Why did the Water Department Staff change the results of the 2024 water rate study?  Why didn’t they change the proposed increases to align with the cost of services?

Here is a summary of the Volume of use VS Revenue-

• Our people in 2025 will pay $1.22 Million more than they should have.
• Industry (all) will pay $1.29 Million less.

AN OUTSIDE AUDIT IS NOW CALLED FOR – and MORE TIME IS WARRANTED

At this point, the Hillsboro Water Department is delivering the reports and data so late in the process that it is time for the City to take some simple measures to protect the taxpayers and ratepayers.

1.     There must be an outside audit of the HDR Report and the City Water Staff conclusions.  This must be done before a vote on rates.  The staff and HDR had a year or more to complete the water study, but they delivered it late, and once comments were called in questioning the numbers, they changed the data and percentages.  That is not okay, and it does not pass the smell test. Sorry, but trust has evaporated for many, which seems to be happening too often.
2.    The Hillsboro Utilities Commission MUST extend the time for their final decision on rate increases until an outside Audit is done and an informed public can respond to the water studies and HDR reports, which are months behind. All of that technical data is coming in at the last minute before a vote- more time is needed for citizens and HUC members to review, comment, and decide.
3. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any of our residents be paying more than their fair share for water. That has been the case for a long time, and the numbers prove that. This is not a hard concept to understand. Industry has been paying far less than residential, and we need to audit the numbers and back-charge inequity to those companies putting any credits against residential accounts.

These three simple items will make Hillsboro more equitable when it comes to water rates.  Sadly, a similar outside audit must be done for our sewer and storm water rates which we have to believe are inequitable too.

Hillsboro leadership must change, must do what they preach, and mean it.  So let’s GO!  It’s election season and all of you voters better turn up!

Thanks to Charolyn Concepcion for making this possible.

GET TO THE MEETING TUESDAY NIGHT – ONLINE OR IN PERSON-

Public Hearing – 6:00 pm – Conference Room C113B

For help with Zoom, read the Instructions for Joining and Participating in a Webinar or see Zoom’s Frequently Asked Questions.

Zoom Teleconference

Phone: 1-253-205-0468

Meeting ID: 870 7144 1952

Password: 807281

URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87071441952?pwd=PI773yaOFWyhyiC9Snu5abvtDmoaMF.1

City Update Report – https://hillsboro-oregon.civicweb.net/document/240593/Agenda%20item%20nn%20-%20Public%20Hearing%202025%20and%202026%20Prop.docx?handle=17D5A4C7A77244C4A2BD246F9201AAEE