ICYMI: The August 17, 2026 Renton City Council Meeting & COW

Council received an update from the Public Works Department on the city’s solid waste and utility systems rates. 

For solid waste, about 85% of what customers pay covers garbage collection and disposal. The rest goes toward taxes, fees, and city programs. Staff are projecting rate increases due to increased King County disposal fees and inflation, though the contract limits how much those costs can grow each year.

Staff noted that projections can change, but the city is taking steps to reduce future increases. With the Republic contract ending in 2027 and the new Recology contract beginning that same year, we are planning to spread costs across during this transition period using a “blended” rate for 2027 instead of multiple mid‑year changes to keep bills simpler.

We are also reducing costs through tax savings from restructuring compost and recycling charges, applying for grants, adjusted disposal estimates from King County, and using some cash reserves to cover the cost of new compost carts.

Next, we heard about water and surface water rates and how the rate study evaluates what revenue is needed, how costs are distributed, and how rates are structured. Our water and surface water utilities operate as a standalone business, meaning all expenses must be covered by revenue generated by each utility rate paid by customers that receive utility services and fees charged for permits and new development. 

The cost‑of‑service rate study recommends updates to make charges fairer across customer class types. Proposed changes include: 

Water Utility 

• Shifting some fire‑protection costs from single‑family customers to multi‑family and commercial customers to account for the increased quantity and duration of water needed to meet fire protection requirements for the different customer classes. 
• Adjusting all customer classes based on meter charges to align with industry standards that reflect cost and capacity differences among different meter sizes. 
• Aligning the city’s irrigation rate with the private irrigation rate to create one customer class for all customers with irrigation meters   

Surface Water Utility 

• Updating surface water rate structure to bill commercial customers on parcels that are less than one acre for their actual parcel acreage or fraction of an acre 
• Expanding the impervious surface intensity categories from three tiers (low, medium, and high) to six tiers (very low, low, medium, medium high, high, and very high) so they better match each property’s impervious surface area 
• Eliminating the Gravel Pits customer class and billing based on their area and the impervious surface intensity category that applies to the property. 
• Revising the WA State Transportation (WSDOT) customer class to be billed at 30% of their current impervious surface intensity category for I-405 and SR-167 limited access right-of-way, as allowed by state law. 
• Revise the city streets customer class to be billed at 30% of the actual new impervious surface intensity category to be consistent with how WSDOT is billed. 
• Surface water changes mainly affect commercial customers. Single‑family homes will continue paying a flat surface‑water rate. These adjustments are revenue‑neutral and would be implemented over two years. 

City water, wastewater, and surface utility rates for 2027 and 2028 are still being finalized, and projected rate ranges were shared as early guidance ahead of October budget discussions. Staff emphasized that inflation, higher electrical, chemical, and other operational costs, along with aging infrastructure, all contribute to rate adjustments.