Item 23 - Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Water and Sewer Rate Adjustments

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Water and Sewer Rates March 17, 2026 Page 4 this study, on November 19, 2019, the City Council adopted a 5-year rate plan for the City's water and sewer services. The adoption of the 2019 rate plan has enabled the City to keep pace with increased operation costs and enabled the City to complete critical infrastructure projects, including well rehabilitation, the addition of new wells, and the implementation of a smart water meter program. The adopted 2019 rate plan established a series of annual rate adjustments with the last adjustment taking effect on July 1, 2023. Due to several compounding factors, including heightened community affordability concerns and the City's desire to minimize additional financial burden during a period of economic uncertainty, water and sewer rates have not been adjusted in nearly three years. While this approach provided short- term rate stability, it has also deferred necessary adjustments needed to keep pace with rising operational, regulatory, and infrastructure costs. During this same time period, the costs for delivering Santa Ana's award -winning drinking water and maintaining its sewer system have increased significantly. In the past two years, both the Metropolitan Water District and the Orange County Water District, the agencies that supply and manage the region's imported water and groundwater basin, have raised their rates by 15% and 22.1 % respectively. As a result, the City's expenditures for system operations and water supply have increased, while revenues have remained relatively flat, reducing the City's capacity to fund capital improvements necessary to support long-term system performance. Additional capital improvements, including the emerging need for treatment facilities to remove Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) from drinking water, as well as increased operating and maintenance costs, require a review of the current rate structure and enterprise finances. PFAS emerged as a known contaminant in recent years and in 2024 the Environmental Protection Agency adopted a maximum contaminant level requiring public water systems to treat and remove PFAS from drinking water. This new treatment requirement has added an unplanned significant increase in capital, maintenance, and operational expenses. Furthermore, 50% of the water distribution infrastructure is past its useful life and an estimated 70% will reach its useful life by 2040. Similarly, the sewer system requires an average of four (4) miles of pipe replacement per year for the next 100 years, but currently, only about one (1) mile of replacement per year can be afforded. Since Council last adopted a rate structure, there has been new case law regarding water and sewer rates, creating additional criteria for compliance with Proposition 218. The City's rate structure must be adjusted to comply with these requirements and ensure that rates are fair and equitable and do not subsidize or benefit one customer class versus another (for example, low-income rates or different rates for residential vs. industrial users are not allowed). Based on the recommendations of the 2019 Cost of Service and Rate Study and the adopted rate plan, the City issued $44 million in bonds in 2024 to fund major capital