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CENTRAL POINT — A two-part rate increase will show up on city residents' water bills between February and April this year, bumping the base rate by a combined 65 cents and usage by 3 percent overall. City Council members approved the rate increases Thursday. The first, set to take effect Jan. 1, will cover an increase of $87,000 annually for bulk water purchases from the Medford Water Commission. Public Works Director Matt Samitore said the city's current $13.50 base rate will increase to $14, with three pricing tiers seeing increases of between 3 and 8 cents per 100 cubic feet (750 gallons). "We charge based on usage, so obviously the residents who are irrigating and filling pools for their kids are going to be more likely to notice that there's some increase," Samitore said. "But, like always, it comes down to, 'How much water are you using?' During winter, most of our customers won't even hit Tier 2 of our rates." In addition to the base rate and usage increase to cover costs passed on by the Medford Water Commission, the city will assess an additional 15 cents on the base rate, beginning in April, to accommodate a directive from a 2009 water rate study to ensure expenses for running the city water system are met. Mayor Hank Williams said the council gave careful consideration to the needed increases approved this week. "We had one rate study that, starting out, said we would need to raise our rates 41 percent. So we hired a consultant firm to go through it real carefully and we got it closer to 13 percent, which is probably pretty close to reasonable," Williams said. "We pretty much had to raise the amount that it costs us to provide the service. By state law, we have to stay in the black. We just pass that amount on to the customer. We do look at any increases pretty carefully." Cities around the valley are reviewing rate increases this winter, with any increases likely taking effect between the new year and spring budget cycles. Williams said Central Point was "probably a lot more conservative on rate increases" than other cities. Williams, who has voiced frustrations with the Water Commission, said the increase passed along regionally from the Water Commission was more than he felt was necessary. "I think there probably should be some, but it's more than it should be," he said. "Basically, from the city standpoint, we just passed on the rate increase from the Water Commission. Water usage hasn't gone up all that much for us, but even slightly higher prices reduce the amount of water people use because it encourages them to conserve. The Water Commission said they had the biggest June they've ever had, but Central Point didn't have the biggest June they've ever had." Samitore said residents could easily keep their overall water bills down with a little conservation effort. "A regular-size family who has regular water consumption probably won't notice the increase much. If you use a lot of water during summer months, the rates start adding up," Samitore said. "The city tries to encourage people to check their irrigation systems to make sure there are no leaks and look into replacing old appliances with high-efficiency washing machines, dishwashers and toilets. There are a lot of ways to keep the bill down pretty low." Reach Medford freelance writer Buffy Pollock at [email protected].