Water and sewage rates could rise 18% in this SLO County town over the next few years
Cambrians soon will have a 45-day window in which decide if they’re willing to pay significantly higher rates for water and sewer service or if they want to formally protest.
The Cambria Community Services District Board of Directors authorized submitting the proposed increases to their ratepayers at a meeting March 17, saying higher rates are needed to pay for water and sewer expenses, pay back debts and fund needed improvements to the district’s aging water and sewer infrastructure.
Rates would begin to escalate on July 1 of this year, with an increase of 5.8%, and continue to go up each year through 2024 (5.9% in 2023 and again in 2024), according to a district staff report.
By July 2024, bills for “typical residents” who use about 80 gallons per day would rise by about 18%, to a total of approximately $161 a month, according to the district. (That translates to a total of $322 on customers’ bills, since the district charges its ratepayers every two months).
In each of the affected years, the board can reduce or eliminate the hikes if the district’s financial situation indicates the higher amounts aren’t warranted.
Current typical bills are estimated to be $135.74 for water, wastewater and related services, although the district’s billings include other costs as well. Those three services provided by the CSD are “enterprise funds,” which are required to be self-supporting.
According to reports presented by consultant Alex Handlers of Bartle Wells Associates, the proposed increases for each of the three years would be 6% for water and 7.5% for sewage treatment, with a substantial chuck of that covering inflation.
The funding would help pay for a number of needed improvements at the district, as well as help the district meet project deb repayment requirements for financing $12 million in critical improvements to the district’s sewage-treatment plant and system facilities.
At an earlier meeting, board members learned that, without the rate increases, the district likely wouldn’t even qualify to get loans to do that work to keep the treatment plant and sewer system functioning.
“The initial study by Alex Handlers showed that (without the rate increases), we could really afford to do only $1 million in projects,” General Manager John Weigold said March 17.
Under the proposal, the board could also authorize an increase for future years, reflecting the annual Consumer Price Index rate for inflation.
What’s happening with the Water Reclamation Facility?
For years, the district has been seeking a permit to operate its Water Reclamation Facility whenever it deems it necessary, instead of just during declared drought emergencies.
In this round of rate hikes, no increase is proposed for the facility, since the current rates apparently are sufficient for ongoing maintenance and establishing a reserve account (the facility isn’t currently operating).
The district doesn’t have a permit to operate it yet except in a declared drought emergency and hasn’t yet solved the issue of exactly how to dispose of the vast amounts of leftover brine that the process produces.
Several related in-depth studies that would help to keep the facility open outside of drought times are underway.
An in-stream flow study includes how operating the plant would impact area creeks, endangered and threatened species and the habitat. Directors got a detailed report March 17 on that study’s findings, and voted to forward it to the natural resources agencies that had required or recommended it be done.
How to protest Cambria rate hikes
In a flurry of motions approved in the nearly-six-hour meeting March 17, the district Board of Directors approved presenting those increased rates before their ratepayers in a Proposition 218 process.
By early April, the district will send a mailed notice informing ratepayers about the proposed increases, the Proposition 218 public protest process and the deadlines.
A hearing to determine if a protest succeeded against the increases was set for May 19.
A couple of protest movements against previous local rate increase proposals have succeeded; others did not.
The CSD’s mailing will also include a protest form, which ratepayers can fill out and submit if they object to having their rates go up.
If a protest against the increases doesn’t happen or fails to reach the required majority of ratepayers, the new rates would start July 1.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 10:56 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story gave the incorrect amount for the water and sewage rate increase. Rates would grow to $161 per month.
