Coulee Dam rates will rise

Coulee Dam’s town council passed new rates and a budget this month that included utility rates increases following a series of budget workshops the council worked on in November and December.

A flat increase for garbage pickup of $3 per container will be implemented in March and leave about $13,000 next December in the garbage fund that was in the hole at the end of this year.

The base rated for electric service will also rise, by $6 per month, to increase the fund accumulated in anticipation of needed maintenance by $38,000.

Sewer rates will rise by $5 a month to $72 per “equivalent residential unit,” half the hike the council had discussed in workshops.

The counicl passed the new rates and a city budget of almost $6 million, which inlcudes a one-time pass-through of more than $2.6 million in extra funding for the new wastewater treatment plant.