Gilbert council votes to increase water rates by 25%

The Gilbert Town Council has voted for the fourth time this decade to increase water rates.

Tuesday night's vote marked the last increase of a three-year water plan set in 2023.

The council voted 4-3 to increase water rates by 25%.

Rebecca Hamel, Gilbert water manager, says average bills could go up between $15 and $20 a month.

Rate increases were paused for most of the 2010s, which Hamel says created the need for Gilbert to play catch-up.

"But the costs didn’t stop rising during that time. Infrastructure still aged, water got more expensive, and eventually all of that caught up at once. So instead of small steady changes over time, we ended up needing a much bigger increase closer together. And that’s the situation we’re in now," Hamel said.

Despite vocal opposition from residents during the meeting, Gilbert Mayor Scott Anderson said the spike is necessary in the face of Colorado River water cuts.

“This is something that’s going to be somewhere between really really bad, and a disaster and we need to plan for that now. We need to plan so that our water portfolio is resilient," Anderson said.

In approving the plan, the council rejected another option to implement two smaller increases this year and next. Rates will be evaluated again for 2028.