Water users in Santa Maria will have to pay higher rates over the next four years after the City Council approved water and sewer rate increases proposed by the city’s Utilities Department.
According to a public notice announcing the increases, the current rate charge for the lowest tier of water consumption—up to five units monthly—is about $3.79. City Council approved raising this rate to $4.77 in 2020, which is a roughly 26 percent increase. This rate would continue to increase annually until reaching $5.37 in 2023.
At the Oct. 1 meeting, when City Council unanimously approved the increases, Utilities Department Director Shad Springer said the new rates are necessary for the city to keep pace with its water expenses. The rates will help cover the city’s costs to repair and replace aging infrastructure, as well as keep pace with higher regulatory compliance costs.
In addition to increasing rates, City Council approved reworking the city’s existing rate structure.
Currently, the city has four different rate tiers depending on water usage. The existing rates for these four tiers range from $3.79 to $5.98. The new rates City Council approved restructure these rates and create three different tiers ranging from $4.77 to $5.30 in 2020. The three tiers would top out at $5.37, $5.57, and $5.97 in 2023.
Residents had a chance to weigh in on these rate increases at the Oct. 1 meeting, as well as a public workshop the city held on Aug. 28. During the workshop, some residents argued the new rate structure doesn’t reward users for consuming less water because there is little difference between the costs of the three different tiers.
Springer said that according to Proposition 218, which state voters approved in 1996, the city has to base its rates on how much the city pays to serve water to its customers. All rates cover infrastructure costs, such as water lines, which all residents pay for regardless of the amount of water they use.
“Because we’re required by state law to charge for the service as it costs, we cannot charge more for a certain class of customer, take that revenue, and subsidize a different class of customer,” Springer said at the Oct. 1 meeting.
This article appears in Oct 10-17, 2019.