St. Helens City Hall. (Kaelyn Cassidy/Columbia County Spotlight)

The city of St. Helens has approved a new budget, and residents will see increased fees for city services.

At a meeting Wednesday, June 18, the St. Helens City Council adopted the city’s budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The new budget includes price increases for multiple city services.

Here’s how the new budget will impact residents’ monthly bills:

Public safety fee increase

Having outgrown its current building, St. Helens has been trying to build a new police station for years. Plans for a new station fell through last year, and the city is currently looking at two potential sites to house its police department.

Residents pay a monthly public safety fee of $10 per housing unit to fund the construction of the new police station. However, lower-than-expected population growth and debt obligations have left the city in need of more funding to be able to cover the construction costs of the new building.

As a result, the city council approved a fee increase of 30 cents at its June 18 meeting, bringing the total to $10.30.

Higher utility rates

Residents will also see higher utility bills.

The new city budget includes higher fees for water, sewer and storm drainage services. In total, the higher fees will increase bills for the average household by about $3.37, according to a city staff report.

The proposed budget initially included a new general service fee, which would have cost residents an additional $20-42 each month. After much discussion, the budget committee chose not to approve the new fee.

Increased fees for garbage and recycling

The city’s garbage and recycling provider, Hudson Garbage, requested that the city raise its rates by 3.5% across the board.

Residents would see their monthly fees for garbage pickup increase by about $1-3 depending on the type of service they receive and how much garbage they have.

However, the city council did not approve Hudson Garbage’s request, with Mayor Jennifer Massey directing the company to come back to the table with a more “competitive offer.”