23,000 Kelowna water customers to benefit from new agreement

For 23,000 Kelowna residents, water bills are going to look a bit different.

A City of Kelowna logo will appear atop what used to be Glenmore Ellison Improvement District water bills in the months to come, but the good news is the bottom line and the water itself will remain the same.

“There should be no (financial) implications or increases as a result of this to either city or GEID ratepayers, GEID board Chair Steven Bonn said about the two water utilities signing a Transition Agreement to transfer the operation of GEID to the City of Kelowna over the next three years. “The city operates on a cost recovery model the same as we do. So the rates that we charge are what is required to run the utility.”

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The conversion is consistent with Kelowna’s integrated water supply plan and provincial policies that call for improvement districts to transition to local governments over time. The benefit is that as needs increase, being part of a system with a larger user base will buffer costs.

“If there are future capital infrastructure requirements needed, being part of the city system will now give access for these ratepayers to provincial or federal (grants),” he said. “So there should be some long-term benefits for our ratepayers as well.”

The next step is for the province to consider an Order in Council and share information with local ratepayers.