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Water-sewer, property tax rates raised
NEWPORT — After just under an hour of interviews and executive session deliberation, the Newport City Council appointed a new member at their Monday, Oct. 19 meeting.
The council voted 3-1 to appoint Andrew Huddleston to Position 3, with council member Mark Zorica abstaining. A returning applicant who interviewed for Position 5 in July, Huddleston is replacing Jami Sears, who resigned in the last month.
Huddleston has lived in Newport since 2018. His family moved to the area in 1998, and he grew up in Oldtown right across the border. In July, he told the council he was a fisheries biologist.
“The main reason that I want to be part of city council is because I want to make a difference in the community,” Huddleston said. “I want to represent the public.”
Later in the meeting, council members approved a $6.50 water-sewer rate increase 4-1, with Zorica opposed. This includes a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), contributions to partially unpaid water loans and sewer bonds and tax. The new monthly water-sewer rate, effective Thursday, Jan. 15, 2027, will be $147.
Previously, the water-sewer rate was not high enough to cover bond payments, as reported by The Miner. Rather than a $13 increase proposed last year, council members approved an $8.50 increase, citing concerns that $13 was too high for many residents at the time. As the city was still not in compliance with repayment, city administration warned residents to prepare for an even higher increase in 2027.
Council members also unanimously approved a 1% property tax levy increase, the standard annual increase. Property tax is the city’s main source of revenue, city clerk-treasurer Theresa Schoener said, with 70% funding general and 30% funding streets.
The city anticipates an estimated levy-budget certification amount of $640,000, as well as a $10,249.98 refund levy from NEW Health. The estimated revenue budget for 2027 is $9.6 million, $16,800 less than 2026.
“I’m sticking pretty close in adjusting more down conservatively for our revenue, versus adjusting it up compared to what we have done in ‘25, ‘26,” Schoener said.
As part of new business, county Public Works director Carole Richardson discussed a draft of the Transportation Improvement Program, a six-year planning document updated annually by the county.
To view the draft TIP and a full list of projects, maps and visual summaries, visit pendoreille.gov/ public-works/page/six-year-transportation-improvement- program-draft. Until Saturday, Oct. 31, residents can email comments to [email protected] with “TIP Comments” in the subject line.
“The TIP is only for capital projects — it’s not our maintenance program,” Richardson said. “This is only stuff that we get grants to do, so our tax money all goes to maintenance.”
