Starting in January, most of Basalt will see water rates 45 percent higher than current ones.
Those current rates are some of the lowest in the state; on a quarterly basis, those who live in-town are paying $55 as a flat fee and $1.69 per 1,000 gallons of water used.
In 2018, the flat fee goes up by $24 and users will be charged 79 cents more for each 1,000 gallons of water they use.
Ryan Mahoney, Basalt’s Town Manager, said there’s lots of infrastructure to take care of, including several million gallons of storage capacity, about 14 miles of water lines and an existing water plant.
With the rate increase, the town wants to get out of the red, and also set money aside in preparation for future costs.
