CENTERVILLE—A recent water main break on Main Street helped highlight the need for the city to find ways to fund system infrastructure and determine utility rates to keep up with that need. Public Works Director Mike Carlson's department is looking at a subscription to WaterWorth, a cloud-based software and consulting service, he told the city council at a Sept. 2 work session.

In the past, city officials considered hiring a consultant to perform a water study and even budgeted $40,000 for that expense, Carlson said. However, after Finance Director Nate Plaizier and City Manager Brant Hanson found the WaterWorth program, Carlson is now recommending it. 

"We've had several meetings with them, and I really like the direction that it's going," he said.

At the meeting, Matt Katsumata from WaterWorth gave the council an overview of his company’s software and services. The system provides long-term financial modeling and capital planning and also helps design fair and equitable utility rates for both water and drainage, Katsumata said. Also, unlike a static PDF report, the model is a "living, breathing document" that can be continuously updated with real-time data, such as inflation rates and new capital projects, he said.

The model also allows city officials to consider various scenarios to determine the consequences of various decisions, like deferring a capital project or implementing a specific rate increase. Katsumata added that WaterWorth improves financial transparency for both elected officials and the public, and empowers city staff and council members with data-driven insights to make informed decisions. It can also employ a targeted approach to help identify and address issues like high-volume commercial users who aren't conserving water, he said.

Along with these features, WaterWorth will help the city account for a new Division of Environmental Quality Utah water systems fee of $14,000 per year, which begins July 1, 2026, and pass it on to users in a transparent way, Carlson told the council.

WaterWorth representative Grange Gordon responded to a concern from Councilmember Gina Hirst about city employees receiving sufficient support and training. 

"One of the things that is super important [is] we really want to have this be the platform where our team, your staff, are providing you all, as council members, the right information in the right fashion at the right time to be able to make these decisions efficiently and effectively,” Gordon said.

Carlson recommended that the city sign up for a three-year subscription to the service, which would cost $33,000 annually, with a $13,000 budget for water and $12,029 for drainage. City council members seemed to respond positively to the presentation. 

 “I really like the real-time model, as opposed to paying somebody because I've been on the council too long,” Councilmember Robyn Mecham said. “We pay for this huge study, then we don't hear about it, and in four years, somebody's saying, ‘Well, that's so old, it won't have anything to do with what you're doing now.’”