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Frederick delays setting water and sewer rates for 2026 and beyond

The Frederick City Council has delayed its decision on a proposed set of water and sewer rate increases. The proposal is to increase water and sewer rates by 3% every year from 2026 to 2030. The council voted 3-1 on Thursday to delay the decision until April 17, closer to when city officials will finalize next year's budget. Council Members Katie Nash, Derek Shackelford and Donna Kuzemchak voted for the delay. Council Member Kelly Russell voted against it. Council Member Ben MacShane was absent from the meeting. "This is one the budget items that I get the most phone calls on, that most people complain about," Kuzemchak said during a meeting on Thursday. "I don't know. Maybe it's because [it is] often done outside the budget process." Russell said she wanted to stick with preferences expressed by Frederick Director of Budget and Administration Katie Barkdoll. "It's [the] staff's preference that we have a predictable revenue prior to going into the budget, but ... we could certainly prepare our budget based on what we believe the rates will be to the best of our ability," Barkdoll said during the meeting. The water and sewer rates were recommended in December by Texas-based consulting firm NewGen Strategies & Solutions, which has an office in Annapolis. The proposed rates would see a household using a 3/4-inch-meter pay $114.72 for water over a period of three months in the city's fiscal year 2026, assuming it used 10,000 gallons. Meters at 3/4 of an inch are the most common for new residential customers to the city's water and sewer service, according to the December report issued by NewGen Strategies & Solutions. Ten thousand gallons is the median water usage over 3 months for a household on a 3/4-inch meter, according to the report. This would be a $3.34 increase over the $111.38 a household currently pays under the same conditions. A household with a 3/4-inch meter would pay $114.70 for sewer services over a period of 3 months, assuming it used 10,000 gallons. This would be a $3.34 increase over the current cost of $111.36 under the same conditions.