Water & Sewer Rate Increase 2024

For single-family residential customers only, we are proposing to change that so the cost per 1,000 gallons will be in three ‘tiers.’  Tiered water rates reward customers who use less water by charging the least amount per 1,000 gallons for use in the first tier, and increasingly more as customers use more water and move into higher tiers. Tiered rates are the most common way to charge for water in California.

The lowest tier corresponds to an amount of water sufficient to meet typical indoor household needs—cooking, drinking, and sanitation at the lowest possible rate. Each subsequent tier charges a higher rate and is designed to send a price signal to households when using water for outdoor irrigation. It’s important to note that as a customer uses more water, their use “moves through the tiers,” meaning that even if their water use moves into the second or third tier, they still receive that first tier of water at the lowest rate.

We've used our reserves over the last five years to keep rates down. This benefited our community as we weathered COVID and economic uncertainty. However, that resulted in the revenue from rates being below our operating costs. This is not sustainable. Additionally, with lower rates we have not invested enough in maintaining our systems.  Many parts of our systems are at or near the end of their useful life. This increases the risk of failures that could result in residents not having water or sewer service for several days. We have had minor disruptions and hope to prevent major problems by replacing the aging parts of the systems and improving maintenance. We need to raise rates to cover the costs of replacing our aging system.

We recognize that affordability is an issue for our customers. The City offers, on a case by case basis, a flexible payment plan that is worked out with you individually. Contact the City’s Utility Billing at (707) 823-7863 to discuss your needs.

The City’s water and sewer services are paid for through customers’ water and sewer service rates and charges. The water and sewer funds are intended to be fully self-supporting and pay for operations and maintenance, debt coverage (loans), cash reserves, and capital improvements.

The City Council approves rate changes in the manner as described in the Prop. 218 process.

The groundwater basin in the Santa Rosa Plain groundwater basin, where Sebastopol’s supply comes from, is in an unbalanced condition with more being extracted from the basin than is being replenished. Therefore, it is important to continue to advocate water conservation to keep the groundwater supply sustainable into the future.

All single-family residential customers will be changing to a Tiered Rate structure. Commercial customers, irrigation customers, and multi-family customers (such as those in an apartment), will continue to pay a Fixed Rate structure. For single-family residential customers, we are proposing to change that so the cost per 1,000 gallons will be in three ‘tiers.’  The first tier will cost less per 1,000 gallons. This ensures that essential water use—what you use inside your home for cooking, drinking, and sanitation – is charged at the lowest possible rate. 

No. Water revenues can only be used for water services and projects and sewer revenues can only be used for wastewater services and projects.

The City bills every two months to save administrative and operating costs. Monthly billing would increase the City’s costs by approximately $106,000 per year. 

You can find resources and information on Water Conservation HERE and information on the BayRen program (Bay Area Regional Energy Network) is available HERE. BayRen is a program for water efficient upgrades.

Revenues are approximately $1.2 million less than expenses for the Water Fund and approximately $1.5 million less than expenses for the Wastewater Fund.

Based on the analysis of existing customers, the average residential user uses 4,500 gallons per month. The average winter use (for determining sewer billing) is 3,000 gallons per month.

The financial impact of the proposed water and sewer rate adjustments for FY 2024-25 is approximately $216,000. This is a significant change from approximately $117,000 currently budgeted in FY 2023-24.

Sebastopol’s rates as proposed in the draft Financial Plan dated 5/15/24 are shown below in comparison to nearby cities.