Isophoric News · Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Oswego commissions a $90,000 study of its water and sewer rates from GHD
Oswego's Common Council authorized the mayor on Sept. 14 to sign a proposal of up to $90,000 from GHD Consulting to conduct a comprehensive study of the city's water and sewer rates, Resolution 302, which passed with no votes against, according to the meeting transcript. The request came from Council President John FitzGibbons, according to the Administrative Services Committee's Sept. 8 agenda, which describes a resolution awarding a professional services contract to GHD "to conduct a comprehensive study of the City of Oswego's water rates and sewer rates for the sum not to exceed $90,000.00." At that meeting the sponsor said the study would cost $45,000 for water and $45,000 for sewer, run about five months, and look at all aspects of how rates are made up and at alternative rate mechanisms, including whether users such as the campuses, industry and neighboring towns are carrying the weight of the services they use.
The sponsor said the city faced a decline in the enterprise accounts that pay for its sewer and water operations and capital needs, that the city has a history of rate reductions, and that the study would let the council tell residents and other users what each portion of the rate should be; the sponsor said officials in Auburn and Geneva, which have done similar studies, told the sponsor the outcome was clarity and equity. A councillor said that GHD's presentation to the council gave justifications for why a given user or business might pay more or less. At the Sept. 14 vote two councillors spoke in support, one calling it a long-term step for the city to own the process, the other calling it proactive. On Oct. 13 a city official said the study is meant to identify flexibility in the water system's needs so the system can run without drawing on the general fund, and that regulators are demanding a plan by the end of 2027.
The record we hold does not say whether rates will change as a result of the study, and this report does not predict that.
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