Rates Notification for 2026
In order to continue providing quality water services, and to fund the much needed improvements of our water system, the total monthly increase is $7.00.
New base rate will be: $40
New system assessment: $44
for a total of $84 effective January 1, 2026. The new rates will be collected for Jan on the Feb 1st billing.
Please see rate table available at aquacopiainc.com
Note:
For those who may have difficulties meeting these new rates, please write a letter explaining your facts and circumstances for consideration to remain at current rates to max@aquacopiainc.com
5 replies on “2026 Rates”
We thought this new SIA of $40 per month was necessary for 1 year, 2025. Do you intend to make this a permanent addition to our water bill? If not, how long do you propose to keep this SIA in effect?
Hello,
We anticipate at least another year or two and possibly longer. The assessment will go away eventually, but the past 20 years of no planned improvements has left the system in a fragile state and repair costs have tripled in the past few years.
I don’t wish to be the bad guy, but our system is 50+ years and showing its age. Our finance person and I are working on a 5 year plan to get our system modernized and up to Washington department of health standards as well as work with the surrounding water districts to ensure we have emergency water if needed.
I will communicate more frequently than the past owners and will be more transparent, share our project schedule, progress on improvements and planned outages as we get things going.
Thank you for your question,
Max
Thank you, Max! Totally understand that no planning in the past by previous owner has left the system vulnerable. Have there been any options explored for a “one-payment” price that could be paid each year for those that might have the funds to do so. I know initially, it hadn’t seemed super expensive for a year. Could that help the system and do more by getting larger amounts up front? Or is that an accounting nightmare tracking who paid all and who is paying by the month?
Hello,
I will discuss this option with our accountant, my guess is it would harder to track this but I will see what his thoughts are.
Thanks,
Max
Hi Eric,
My apologies for not responding to this earlier, I just saw this while doing site maintenance. The intention of the assessment is to make some much needed upgrades before they become super expensive repairs or a multi-day outage. The previous owner did not put much thought into the aging system, paid themselves 4x than myself and were not realistic about the assessment and what it costs to fix things. I have an engineering background and proactively think about how we can bring our system up-to current standards and reliability. My partner who is the accountant is recommending a couple years of assessment to allow for incremental upgrades, otherwise we’ll need to take a loan which will result in additional interest payments and a longer assessment period unit it’s paid off. We still may go the load route to fund the bigger projects but right now we need to fix our leaky crumbling pump house and pressure pumps to more efficient and redundant setup.
I care about the system, all the customers and appreciate the questions and feedback. I will respond even if it 2 months late.
You can send a direct email to max@aquacopiainc.com
Regards,
Max