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The City of Dayton officially opened recently renovated 3rd Street with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, November 27. Attending the ceremony were, from left, Brent Thompson of Anderson•Perry, Avren Childers, local businesswoman (behind Thompson), Adam Schmidtgall of Anderson•Perry, Braiden Amata of Anderson•Perry, Mayor Zac Weatherford (cutting the ribbon), Joann Bomar, Dayton Chamber of Commerce Assistant Director; City Clerk-Treasurer Deb Hays, and Ryan Paulson, Public Works Director, City of Dayton.
DAYTON–The City Council unanimously approved raising water utility tax rates for overage consumption from 12% to 15% and approved Ordinance 2007 during the November 21 meeting.
Ordinance 2008 relates to taxation of utility providers, amending certain sections of the Dayton Municipal Code, to change the 12% Utility tax to 15% on the gross income of those engaged in the distribution of water and wastewater operations.
The increases in utility rates came after much consideration and review. However, overage usage was based on a sample study of households with two adults and two children with a usage of two thousand cubic feet of water. This household would be charged for 800 cubic feet at the base rate and 1,200 cubic feet at the excess-use rate. With the current 2023 rate of .01009, their excess usage bill would have been $12.11. The proposed rate of .01309 would increase to an additional $3.60. The motion passed unanimously.
The Council previously authorized and approved a utility rate increase of 8.5% in addition to a 3% increase on the utility tax.
The Council also approved ordinance No. 2007, which adopts the 2024 salary schedule for non-contractual employees of the City of Dayton, which is a part of the 2024 budget and must be approved on its own every year. There was a 3% cost of living increase.
In addition, the Council approved the authorization for the mayor to sign a Task Order with Anderson Perry and Associates to update the existing Water System Plan as required by the Washington State Department of Health.
The mayor also signed a Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is for the contract that the city has with the county for local law enforcement and dispatch. They are changing the average of the CPI from January through December to August through July. Mayor
"This is what I feel is very fair to both parties and is an excellent tool not only for the city, but for the county as well," said Mayor Zac Weatherford.
