RIVERSIDE

Riverside residents have not encountered an increase in water-usage rates since 2015.

That could be changing.

At its first budget work session for Fiscal Year 2024 on Jan. 10, which focused on projected revenues and capital projects, members of the Riverside City Council discussed increases in water rates to help cover capital projects and other needs.

Specifically, council members wondered if it was best to have smaller increases each year or have one larger increase when it is needed. City Clerk Becky LaRoche told the board that the last increases, in back to back years, were in 2014 and 2015.

Mayor Allen Schneider suggested it might be easier on city residents to apply small increases over time.

“I’m not going to lie, I still think we should bump it up,” Council Person Edgar McGuire said.

Among the capital projects in 2022 was a water and sewer main project along Third Street costing more than $3 million.

City revenue from water usage has gone up and down over recent years, but is expected to top $400,000 by the time the current fiscal year ends June 30.

Total revenues in the last four years have risen from $6.2 million in 2019 to a projected $7.6 million in 2023. Of those funds, $1.7 million will come from the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort.

The City Council also discussed proposed requests of $22,000 made by the Voyage Home Museum and Riverside History Center, $21,000 from the Riverside Area Community Club (RACC) for Trek Fest and $15,000 for Camp Highland.

Council Person Lois Schneider said she would like to see the summer camp and other summer events serve more kids in Riverside than it does now.

The Council is also asking for an itemized list from Trek Fest so it is clear which parts of the event that the city is paying for through tourism funds.

Final approval for those events is expected to come in March, when the entire budget is considered. A public hearing has been set for March 20.

Capital projects for the upcoming year will include significant repair work at the city’s water and wastewater plants, but it also could include design or actual work on a proposed community center. A referendum on bonds to cover the construction of a community center is likely to appear on the November 2023 election ballot. The community center will likely cost more than $7 million. Council members discussed whether the center would also include a child-care facility.

Council Person Lois Schneider said she would like to work on the committee that is working on the community center.