Newburgh City Council moved to accept a proposal and execute a contract on Monday, March 25 with Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. for professional financial services for a water and sewer rate study in an amount not to exceed $78,000.

City Engineer Jason Morris explained at the March 21 work session that the city council had allocated funds in the 2024 budget for the study to be conducted. A similar study was conducted back in 2020 but only for drinking water which led to increased rates from 2020 through 2024.

“This study will do a number of things. It will study both water and sewer. It will perform a lookback study from 2020 to 2024 to determine how rates were raised and how the money was expended. It will develop a rate forecast for water and sewer for the years 2025 to 2030,” said Morris. “It will also look at the existing rate structure that the city uses for water and sewer and make recommendations as to whether it’s adequate or if it should be changed. And it will also provide a rate comparison with similar municipalities for water and sewer.”