Amid pressure from ratepayers, the Lakeside County Water and Sewer District board tabled a decision Tuesday to raise sewer rates until its August meeting.

Since 2022, the district has imposed an annual 5% increase of its sewer rates to cover project costs to expand its wastewater treatment system, as well as operation and maintenance costs. 

But this year the district plans to raise its sewer rates by 61.7%, with a new monthly flat rate of $78.62, starting in September. For non-compliance users, the monthly flat rate will go up by 37.9% to $109. 

According to a resolution adopted by the board in June, the increased rates will cover the cost of improving the district’s wastewater system, ongoing operational expenses, debt service payments to outstanding bonds and future additional bonds, and establish appropriate reserves.  

Required by state law to host a public hearing before changing sewer rates, the district held the July 15 meeting at the Lakeside Quick Response Unit Building in anticipation of high turnout.  

More than 60 members of the public showed up, all demanding a better explanation for the rate increase.  

Former state legislator and Lakeside resident Tanner Smith said residents likely would back the increased rates, including himself, if it kept Flathead Lake clean.  

"I think once this group understands that this rate of increase is going to keep Flathead Lake pristine for generations to come, I think you're going to have a lot more support, rather than a lot of people with torches and pitchforks," Smith said. 

Watchdog group Citizens for a Better Flathead, whose members have regularly attended district meetings, questioned the dramatic rate increase and demanded evidence from the district to justify it.  

The group wants a comprehensive sewer rate, tax and fee study of the last five years, conducted by an independent consultant; audits of the district’s finances, which the organization accused the district of failing to produce since 2021; and annual calculations of charges for services.  

The district budgeted $75,000 for a rate study in its wastewater system expansion project, but members of Citizens for a Better Flathead accuse it of refusing to turn over the results.  

General Manager Rodney Olson wrote in an email to the Daily Inter Lake he could not comment due to ongoing litigation. 

During the hearing, Citizens for a Better Flathead member Cameron Dexter accused the district of operating without a budget for fiscal year 2026, which began July 1. She said the financial report attached to Tuesday’s meeting agenda failed to meet the legal requirements for a budget. 

“It is totally unacceptable, and perhaps illegal, that [the district] is holding the rate increase hearing when it currently is operating ... without any new budget for fiscal year 2026,” Dexter said.   

DURING THE hearing, residents also criticized the location of the new wastewater treatment facility, which is being built near the intersection of U.S. 93 and Somers Road and will replace the district’s old facility.   

North Shore Water Alliance President and Kalispell resident Jennifer Tipton told board members her drinking well is a quarter mile away from the facility.   

“I know your hydrologist said that water will magically stay away from our irrigation ditch and our drinking water,” Tipton said. “Our independent scientists disagree.” 

Several others raised concerns about how the new treatment facility will affect the water quality of Flathead Lake.  

In late April, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued a Montana Ground Water Pollution Control System permit to the district to build the facility. A final environmental assessment released by the department found “no significant impacts to state waters.” 

However, Citizens for a Better Flathead filed a lawsuit against the state agency in May, challenging the findings in its environmental assessment. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs. 

The group has also filed a lawsuit against the district, challenging its public participation procedures. Part of the lawsuit includes the group’s requested details regarding the wastewater treatment system’s improvement plan. 

Dexter said the district has failed to include supporting documents in its posted agendas prior to its meetings. Citizens for a Better Flathead members have had to attend meetings to get context of the agenda item, and then make a formal records request to obtain the material.  

“This meant we could not provide meaningful comment on any of the decisions,” Dexter told the Inter Lake in an email.