Windsor utility proposal would add $11.63 monthly for 4,000-gallon households

Windsor’s proposed 2027 utility rates would raise the combined monthly bill for a household using 4,000 gallons of water from $117.99 to $129.62, an $11.63 increase.

Water accounts for $4.62 of that increase, sewer $6.01 and stormwater $1. For a single-family home, the proposed sewer bill would climb from $48.08 to $54.09. The typical single-family stormwater charge would rise from $8.22 to $9.22 a month.

The rate study puts Windsor’s share of the wastewater treatment plant at $154 million over four years of construction. Design and construction began in 2024, with interim financing during construction and a revenue bond planned for 2028. For a water-fund project called NISP, the study projects debt payments of $4 million in 2028, about $8.5 million annually from 2029 through 2031 and at least $10 million annually from 2032 onward. It expects total NISP debt-service costs to exceed $1 billion.

For three-quarter-inch meters, the calculated water connection fee is $10,633, up 22% from $8,708 for dual-system users; the sewer fee is $13,903, up 87% from $7,454. A rate-study presenter recommended adopting the calculated fees rather than phasing them in, so new growth would help pay for treatment capacity and associated sewer debt. “So when that growth does come on, it's paying its full share in as soon as possible to relieve otherwise what would go to ratepayers,” the presenter said. Mayor Pro Tem Jason Hallett said the last fee increase, two years ago, used a $110 million plant estimate within an $80 million-to-$120 million range; an earlier $50 million estimate has since climbed to about $150 million to $155 million.

Town Board Member Ron Steinbach asked why the water-bill comparison did not include Northwell and Fort Collins, which he described as town suppliers. “I would just expect questions from the public on comparative rates within the town,” Steinbach said. Hallett said Windsor receives water from the City of Greeley, Northwell County Water and Fort Collins Loveland; residents north of Harmony Road are direct Northwell customers. Hallett agreed the town could add the direct-customer rates to the comparison, and the presenter said another bar could be added.

The proposed water plan calls for annual rate increases of 7.5% in 2027 and 2028, then 5% annually from 2029 through 2036. Sewer rates would rise 12.5% annually from 2027 through 2029, then 5% annually through 2036. The storm-drainage plan calls for $1 annual increases and cash funding for $36.5 million in capital costs over 10 years; the prior plan called for $1.50 annual increases and $42.1 million in cash-funded capital costs.