Arlington cancels utilities rate increase for 8th consecutive year

Customers of Arlington’s water, sewer, and stormwater utilities will see no increase in their utility bill in 2020. At the Tuesday, Jan. 21, Council meeting, the Arlington City Council voted unanimously to cancel a planned 2020 rate increase for water, sewer and stormwater utilities, the eighth year in a row they have taken such action.

Mayor Barb Tolbert called the City Council's 2020 rescinding of utility rates increases for the eighth consecutive year a win for Arlington residents and businesses, stating “our City Council and staff have worked hard to hold the line on costs for the past eight years.”

Each year the City Council and staff review the utility budget and consider whether an increase in utility rates is needed, based on an adjustment to the Consumer Price Index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton area.

Since 2010, the city ordinance has required a mandatory public utilities rate increase each year for Arlington residents and commercial customers. However, this is the eighth year in a row that the council’s vote made an exception, maintaining the water, sewer, and stormwater rates unchanged since 2012.