Pocatello Loses Sewage Rate Appeal

The Idaho Supreme Court has denied Pocatello’s request that it reconsider a decision favoring Chubbuck in a long-debated dispute over sewage processing rates.

Chubbuck city attorney Tom Holmes said Friday’s decision could mean Pocatello will have to refund $100,000 to $300,000 in fees to Chubbuck.

The suit was filed by Chubbuck after Pocatello raised the city’s sewage processing rate from 43 cents to 81 cents per 1,000 gallons while increasing its own rate from 43 cents to 51 cents per 1,000 gallons.

Pocatello officials said Chubbuck should be charged an out-of-city rate. But Chubbuck officials said that since Chubbuck’s population was figured in a federal grant request to build the sewage plant, Chubbuck residents should receive the same rate as Pocatello residents.

Sixth District Judge Wallace Transtrum of Soda Springs originally heard the case and decided in favor of Pocatello. But Chubbuck appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in its favor.

Holmes said the cities have been negotiating a way to integrate the Supreme Court decision into the sewage payment structure.