Lindon adds a monthly sewer treatment facility fee to pay its share of Orem plant upgrades

Lindon customers now face a separate monthly sewer treatment facility fee, which the City Council adopted Aug. 17, 2026, to pay for the city's share of upgrades at the Orem Water Reclamation Facility, according to the approved minutes. The meeting agenda listed the item as a public hearing on fee schedule amendments for sewer treatment plant fees. ^[1][2]

Orem treats all of Lindon's wastewater, according to minutes of an earlier joint meeting with the Orem City Council that were incorporated into the item. ^[1]

The cost

City Engineer Noah Gordon told the council the plant's first phase of upgrades had risen from $58 million to nearly $95.5 million including engineering, according to the minutes. Lindon's portion is 12.24%: "This apportions approximately $11.7 million to Lindon." ^[1]

The joint-meeting minutes describe two financing options under consideration: joining Orem's bond and making annual payments, or having Orem's reserves fund Lindon's share up front, with Lindon repaying over time at a rate tied to the state Public Treasurers' Investment Fund. The minutes do not record a final financing agreement. ^[1]

The fee

The new fee appears as its own line on utility bills and is based on culinary water meter size, "capping the fee at the cost associated with a 2-inch meter." For a typical 1-inch residential connection, "this translates to an estimated fee of $19.98 per month." ^[1]

Staff also proposed spreading the sewer base rate across connections by meter size, which the minutes say would slightly reduce residential base charges while raising them for larger commercial and institutional users. Council members cited an example in which a business with a 3-inch meter "would experience a rise in annual cost from approximately $350 to $3,250." ^[1]

Councilmember Jake Hoyt suggested using the General Fund to partly offset the fee. The minutes say this was "recognized as impractical due to the specific nature of enterprise funds." Staff noted that the council, sitting as the Board of Equalization, hears utility fee appeals case by case. ^[1]

"The staff advised caution, suggesting deferring the sewer base rate restructuring for a future budget cycle," pending a cost-of-service study, the minutes say. After debate, "the Council decided to proceed with approving the fee schedule precisely as initially proposed by staff," and directed staff to start a communication campaign before the new rates appeared on September bills. ^[1]

Councilmember Van Broderick moved to approve the resolution as presented; Councilmember Lincoln Jacobs seconded. Hoyt, Broderick, Jacobs and Councilmember Cole Hooley voted yes. Councilmember Steve Stewart was absent. The minutes were approved Sept. 8. ^[1]

How the sewer plan changed during the year

In March, the tentative budget listed a 7% sewer base increase and a 10% sewer usage increase, according to the March 16 minutes. ^[4]

The approved budget's message says it "reflects a 25% in sewer base revenue and a 10% increase in sewer usage revenue" and that city engineers had not completed their evaluation of the rates. ^[5]

At the June 15 budget hearing, no sewer rate increase was proposed while a rate study was underway, according to the minutes. ^[6]

The 2026–27 fee schedule posted on the city's Finance Department page, as reviewed Oct. 16, lists a sewer base charge of $28.40 a month for a single-family home and a usage rate of $3.85 per 1,000 gallons, last updated in June 2025. It does not list a sewer treatment facility fee. ^[3]

Appeal on the October agenda

The council's Oct. 5 agenda listed a request from North Pointe Solid Waste Special Service District for relief from certain utility fees. Minutes of that meeting had not been posted when this story was published. ^[7]