Colby applies for increase in water utility user rates
By Nathaniel Underwood
The city of Colby will be raising its municipal water utility rates after applying to Wisconsin Public Service Commission for a simplified rate case at the end of August.
The rate is set to increase by 4.1 percent from the prior rate and will take effect on Oct. 15 of this year. Residents will see the resulting increase on their November bills.
To put into perspective, an average residential property (about 4,000 gallons) will see the current monthly rate of $35.83 bumped up to $37.31. Larger residential lots that use more water (6,200 gallons) would see an average rate of $48.50 increased to $50.51, and commercial buildings (19,300 gallons) would have a rate increase from $131.21 to $136.65.
Rate increases via the simplified rate case application are largely based on Consumer Price Index changes since the last application. The city of Colby has been applying for simplified rate case increases over the
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past three years, with their last increase going into effect last September.
The simplified rate case increases allow the city to keep water rates steady with inflation without having to go through the process of a full rate case, which would involve a total analysis of the water systems and finances by engineers and auditors that could result in a large spike in the water utility costs to residents. The last time the city went through the process of a full rate case was in September of 2009.
These rate increases will only affect water utility rates. Sewer rates will still remain the same.
Central Fire budget
The council also approved the 2025 Central Fire and EMS budget at their most recent meeting, but questions were raised about the proposal.
While the total spending budget saw a small increase of 3.6 percent from 2024, the total contribution from the city of Colby actually decreased, going from $53,493 in 2024 to $51,703 in 2025. This is largely due to the Central Fire and EMS board budgeting for more EMS fee revenues in 2025, as the fees collected for EMS services have significantly surpassed projections over the last few years.
Discussion on individual items on the budget was held at Monday night’s council meeting. Council member Todd Schmidt, who represents the city of Colby at the Central Fire and EMS board meetings, explained why he had voted against the proposed budget at that meeting.
“The reason I voted no is because basically the salary increase request (for fire chief Joe Mueller) was kind of off the cuff,” he said. “The number felt like it came out of thin air and I didn’t think it was adequate for what the department needs for the position.”
The Central Fire and EMS board approved a salary of $21,600 for the district chief, which was up from the $16,800 budgeted in 2024.
“There wasn’t a sentiment to have a full-time chief with a fulltime chief’s salary, but I think that there’s enough room in there to give the chief a little more for all he does,” Schmidt added.
The cost of bookkeeping for the district was also discussed. Due to a new IRS law that exempts the first $600 for all fire and EMT employees from taxes, the extra accounting needed to keep track of those exemptions has created more work for the city of Colby, which currently does the bookkeeping for the district.
Many council members believed that keeping the same $500 per month that is currently budgeted for bookkeeping does not make sense given the extra work being done.
Council member Dan Hederer also said he would like to see the district audited in the near future.
“The fire department needs to have a full audit,” he said. “They’ve never done it, so I’m requesting it, to put it on their agenda to talk about it. It’s not that we don’t trust our city clerks. We’ve done it with the police department.”
After discussion, the board approved the fire budget with a 3-2 vote, with council members Schmidt, Nancy O’Brien and Jason Lindeman voting to pass it, while council members Hederer and Randy Hesgard voting against.
