Description: This three-hour workshop equips water and wastewater utility staff, board members, and managers with a practical framework for setting rates that fully recover costs and sustain the system long-term. Designed for municipal systems, the course walks through a proven five-step rate-setting process — from evaluating current financial position, to projecting operating and capital costs, to developing defensible base and volume charges, to communicating rate changes to the community. Participants leave with the vocabulary, tools, and confidence to make sound financial decisions and protect the financial health of their utility.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain why financial stability and sustainability are essential to safe, reliable water service.
• Identify the components of full cost recovery, including depreciation, reserves, and debt service.
• Estimate utility operating and capital costs using sound asset management and capital improvement planning principles.
• Apply a five-step process to gather data, develop rates, and build appropriate reserve accounts.
• Implement rate changes effectively — communicating with customers, understanding creditworthiness, and exploring ways to increase revenue without raising rates.

Presenters: John Colclazier, Program Manager, Wichita State University Environmental Finance Center

CEUs: This training is currently pending approval for continuing education credits, although we cannot guarantee it. Regardless, we will provide a Certificate of Attendance to all qualifying attendees.

Who Should Attend: