Kamloops water rate increase secured at 15% for 2025

Kamloops residents will be seeing a 15% increase on their water rates next year.

During the Tuesday meeting, Kamloops council agreed to direct staff to create a bylaw for the sewer, water and solid waste rates for 2025.

That includes the 15% rate increase for water and a 5% increase for each sewer and solid waste collection.

According to the staff report, a water bill of $452 would increase by $68 to $519 next year.

As for sewer, a bill of $493 would increase by $25 to $518.

Those increases, particularly for the water utility, are in line with what council agreed to in November 2023.

During the Tuesday meeting, council was told the water utility would increase by 15% in 2025 and 2026, before dropping to 10% in 2027, 5% in 2028 and 3% by 2029.

Coun. Sarai wondered if the rate increase could contribute to rebuilding reserves that were drained following years of no increases to water utility rates.

City staff said that was essentially the plan but capital projects and asset management projects created an “ebb and flow” with reserves.

“There may be a project that gets pulled backwards, there may be a project that gets pushed out, simply because of the fact that the need is somewhere else more urgently,” staff explained.

The bylaws will be brought forward at a future meeting for adoption.