Scottsdale City Council version 2026 has been fractious – battling over an Old Town parking garage, the format for public comment, funding for water recycling and much more. 

At its May 19 meeting, the city’s elected officials again engaged in prolonged, fiery debate: When Mayor Lisa Borowsky leaned to allowing citizen Dan Ishac to play a recording for his public comment, councilmen Adam Kwasman and Barry Graham threatened to overrule her.

A rocky compromise was reached, with Ishac summarizing how the recording was of Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas criticizing Borowsky to county detectives. This was during the “Parkingate” saga of early 2025.

Just before that squabble, City Council showed it had something it could unanimously agree on: raising rates. 

Borowsky and the six council representatives joined forces to approve sweeping increases, from parks and library space rentals to garbage collection.

And the big ones: city-provided utilities.

Water rate increases of 4.5% will start Nov. 1, with wastewater rate bumps of 3.5% effective July 1

Those two increases will give the city an extra $8 million.

Though the average resident would pay an extra $5.21 per month starting this fall, Scottsdale’s water and sewer rates are second-best in the Valley. 

Only Chandler, at $71.32 per month, beats the $129.79 – a $5.21 increase – Scottsdale will charge its average water/sewer user.

Peoria ($134.47), Tempe ($147.31), Phoenix ($154.70), Glendale ($167.84), Mesa ($169.56) and Gilbert ($180.82) all charge more for 16,000 gallons of water and 11,000 gallons of wastewater, according to Scottsdale staff information.

Council also approved raising residential garbage collection by 2%, from $31.78 to $32.42 monthly.

According to a memo from Sonia Andrews, Scottsdale’s treasurer, “These increases were determined by the Water Resources Department using a five-year rate model to calculate revenue requirements for upcoming water and sewer operating and capital needs.”

The rate increases, Andrews noted, “do not include funding for capital projects that do not have accurate cost projections and capital projects that are still being defined.”

The water increase presentation cited “Significant increases over the last four years in:

  • Raw water, 6%;

  • Personnel services, 8%;

  • Electricity, 34%;

  • Chemicals, 8%.