The Bainbridge Island City Council will hold a public hearing later this month to consider expanding utility taxes to non-city utility providers.

The hearing is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 27 in council chambers at city hall.

The council continued to kick around the idea of modifying the city’s utility tax structure in July. Council members asked city staff to come back with an ordinance that would levy a 6 percent tax on water and sewer utilities not owned by the city as a way to increase revenues for city hall.

The expanded tax is a new twist on an old idea as it would not cover all non-city utility providers.

Earlier, the city’s Utility Advisory Committee asked the council to eliminate the utility tax charged against the city’s water, sewer and stormwater utilities based on the UAC’s concern that the tax was not equitable because it only applies to the city’s utility systems and does not apply to the other water and sewer systems providing service to Island customers.

The ordinance being considered addresses the equity issues by extending the tax to all Group A water utilities with more than 50 active connections, and to all sewer utilities.

At this week’s council meeting, council members agreed to forward the proposal to a public hearing at the end of this month.