By Jeff Wendt | Daily Independent
The Cave Creek Town Council on Tuesday put plans in motion to increase the water rate for customers of Cave Creek Water, Desert Hills Water and Cave Creek Wastewater System.
The 7-0 vote to increase the rate by 6% will results in water bill increases to most of the 5,500 customers Cave Creek serves.
The votes sets in motion the process to increase the rates in February of 2026. A written report will be released to the town’s customer on Nov. 7, and a public hearing on the rate increase will take place Jan. 6, 2026 with adoption of the rate increase at that meeting.
Also included in the rate increase is a new tiered system, where the top level comes down from 50,000 gallons per month to 40,000 and creates a new tier from 0 to 4,000 gallons per month.
The council decided against adding a water resource fee, which was first discussed in the Oct. 15 work study session, saying it needed more real data to decide whether a resource fee should be added to customers’ bills.
The council also decided against going to a seasonal rate, seeing that there was not much change to customers’ bills, with the rate on increasing minimally, and councilmembers decided there wasn’t enough gain in revenues to justify the seasonal rate.
“I mean, we’ve squeezed blood from that turnip already. So I think 6%’s a pretty reasonable increase based on the cost we’re incurring,” councilmember Dusty Rhoades said.
The residential customers in the first three tiers under Cave Creek water will see a modest 3-4% increase while the top end customers will see between a 17-19% increase in their bill. Cave Creek water has nearly 2,000 customers, with nearly 1,850 customer within the first three tiers of the new plan. Cave Creek Water also has 200 commercial customers, who will also see their rates increased as well.
Most customers on the Desert Hills water system, however, will see a decrease in their bills, between 1 and 7%. Customers at the highest tiers on Desert Hills water will see a 1% increase in their bills.
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