Many Bend sewer and water bills jump as flat fees end

Bend water and sewer rates rose for many residents late this summer, and that has many upset residents wondering why.

Gillian Ockner, a senior policy analyst with the city, explained to NewsChannel 21 Thursday, “They are going to see a change adopted as a result of rate increases that have been adopted by (city) council. So those rate increases were applied to water, sewer, and stormwater in July and are now hitting people’s bills this month.”

Although the rate increases are not going to change much, consumers may be able to alter their daily lives to fit their budgets.

“The changes come from the fact that our sewer bill no longer, for our residential customer, is a flat fee,” Ockner said. “We have taken that away, so that now they’re being billed both on a base charge for the service that we provide, whether or not they flush their toilet, making sure that service is available to them, and they’re also being charged on a volume charge.”

This mean that people have more control over their water bills, rather than having a flat rate for their sewer bill.

The city also just changed its billing format in an attempt to better explain what residents are paying for. To learn more about that, and who to call with questions, visit this city Web page.