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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Thousand of Salt Lake-area businesses and residents will pay a bit more for water use if a new proposal is adopted.

The Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District is set to submit a plan that includes an average rate increase of about 4 percent for the majority of its wholesale customers and around 3.8 percent for retail customers, said Richard Bay, the district's general manager.

The district is a political subdivision of the state that provides water to cities, improvement districts and retail customers within Salt Lake County.

Contracted agencies include the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy, while retail service is also provided to about 8,600 residential and nonresidential customers across the county, Bay explained.

“We’ve adjusted water rates up each of the last seven years,” he said. “The average rate adjustment for the last 10 years has been 3.8 percent.”

Despite the annual increases, the district still has some of the lowest water rates in the region, Bay said.

“We’re a public agency, and our marching orders are to provide service at cost,” he said. “We can’t artificially raise rates.”

*ksl