In an matter of first impression this week, an appellate court for the state of Washington clarified the state statutory definitions to establish the rate of a municipal water supplier must be ”just, fair, reasonable and sufficient.”

The three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals Division Three said the legislature intended that Revised Code of Washington 80.28.010, .090, and .100 to apply to municipal water suppliers and RCW 35.92.010 included the requirement that rates be “just, fair, reasonable and sufficient,” in a case brought by residents who sued the City of Spokane seeking declaratory judgment that its water rates were unlawful.