Investing In A
Secure Water Future
The Sacramento County Water Agency (SCWA) provides water supply services to more than 63,000 households and businesses. These services are essential to everyone’s health and safety, ensuring families are able to cook and clean, businesses are able to continue to operate, and that our communities are able to thrive.
To keep pace with inflation and ongoing investment in our water system’s critical infrastructure, SCWA is proposing to increase the rates for water service.
SCWA offers a ratepayer assistance program to ensure our water services remain affordable and accessible to all our customers.
Our Goals
Conducting regular rate studies is an industry best practice that utilities across the nation follow to ensure their water rates are equitable and can support reliable water service. While conducting our most recent rate study, we kept the following goals in mind:
Minimize Customer Impacts: Ensure customers only pay what’s necessary, and no more. We’re committed to maintaining affordable service for our customers.
Achieve Financial Sufficiency: Remain financially stable, so SCWA can continue to provide reliable service for generations to come.
Address Debt Service Requirements: Maintain the financial resources SCWA needs to continue investing in our water systems.
About The
Proposed Rates
SCWA is planning to adjust our water service rates based on a comprehensive rate study conducted by independent consultants. This study took a deep dive into our future costs for providing water services, using detailed technical analyses, projections of revenues and expenses, and a careful look at our current and future financial health.
If adopted, new rates will become effective in November 2024. Each year after that, on July 1, we’ll make annual adjustments. Some customers’ monthly charges include a Special Capital Development Fee of $28.80. This fee only affects customers south of the American River and isn't going up.
The examples below show how the changes might affect different residential metered SCWA customers based on their water usage starting November 2024. It’s important to note that most of our customers get their water bills every two months. For simplicity, we’re showing the impacts monthly to match up with other utility bills you might get.
How Proposed Rates Stack Up
SCWA rates are comparable to nearby providers, as shown in the chart to the right. Please note the SCWA Special Capital Development Fee only applies to customers south of the American River and is not proposed to be increased.
Reasons for the Proposed Rate Adjustments
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Since the end of the pandemic, SCWA, like other businesses and consumers, has experienced extraordinary inflation not seen in over 40 years. Since the last rate adjustment in July 2020, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased by 21%. This inflation has significantly impacted the cost of electricity, chemicals, materials, and labor.
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Regular repair and re-investment is necessary to maintain a high level of service and ensure the longevity of the water system. This includes not just maintaining, but sometimes replacing, aging infrastructure and meeting ever more stringent regulatory requirements. Every bill you pay contributes to ensuring we maintain a strong, reliable water system.
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SCWA is a not-for-profit utility. Operations and maintenance are funded almost entirely by customer rate revenue. Water rates must reflect the cost of critical water services so we can continue to pay for providing it.
Your water rates don't just contribute to our water system's infrastructure. They also help us employ the highly trained professionals who operate and maintain our water system each day.
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The state and federal governments continue to introduce new regulations that aim to ensure our water supplies remain safe and reliable. To adhere to these regulations, SCWA must continue to invest in and expand its existing infrastructure and operations.
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It’s critical that SCWA maintain a responsible level of cash reserves so we can respond quickly in a water service emergency and plan for funding future water supplies. To continue to maintain this reserve, we need to increase water rates.
Follow the
Process
We encourage the public to follow the rate study process and learn more about SCWA’s water services, how rates are determined, California Proposition 218 requirements, and how the rates you pay are invested in our critical infrastructure.
Public Hearing Scheduled
SCWA will host a public hearing to hear protests to and vote on the proposed water rates. The meeting will be hosted at:
Sacramento County Administration Center Board Chambers
700 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Sept. 10, 2024, at 11 a.m.
Documents
Frequently Asked
Questions
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SCWA does not make a profit from water rates. Water rates pay for water services, which ensures we can deliver high-quality, reliable water in a manner that aligns with our communities' values and changing needs. The water bill you pay is an investment to ensure we can continue to provide you—and generations to come—with the same reliable water service you receive today.
We are committed to good governance, fiscal accountability, and transparency, with systems and policies in place to earn the trust of our customers.
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SCWA is proposed to increase rates over the next five years by 17%, 8%, 7%, 7%, and 7%, respectively. For a majority of customers, that's between $5 and $10 per month in the first year.
Since SCWA hasn't increased rates in four years, we need a larger first-year increase to catch up and adjust to inflation. Years two through five are more modest increases to continue keeping pace with inflation and ensure SCWA remains financially stable over time.
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Water rates cover standard operations and maintenance of the water system, but there’s more to it than that. Water infrastructure is complex and critical to the service we provide every day. Much like a car, it needs to be maintained to operate properly. Rates must also cover the cost of serving each of our customers, even as we face extraordinary inflation. Finally, rates must maintain a responsible level of cash reserves so we can respond quickly in a water service emergency and plan for funding future water supplies.
Your water rates also help us employ experts who maintain reliable service.
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Regularly conducting rate studies is an industry best practice that utilities across the nation participate in to ensure they remain financially stable and have equitable rates.
The current rate study evaluated SCWA’s future costs of providing water services. It consisted of a series of steps involving technical analyses, projections of revenues and expenses, and evaluation of current and future financial metrics against required minimums and policy goals.
Conducting this rate study helps SCWA establish a plan for addressing extraordinary inflation and planning for investment in our water system's critical infrastructure.
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Each time that you turn on the tap, pick up a cup of coffee, or flush the toilet, you're tapping into SCWA's water system, and one of our most precious resources. The water system that delivers clean, safe drinking water straight to your tap 24/7 is a complex system made up of over 20 water storage tanks, 13 groundwater treatment plants, 85 water supply pumps, and much more. Each of these components requires professional expertise, regular maintenance, and eventually, repair or replacement. The water bill you pay directly contributes to the upkeep of this system, ensuring SCWA can continue to provide you with the reliable water service you count on each day.
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SCWA worked with an independent expert, a consulting firm called Raftelis, to conduct the most recent water rate study. Raftelis has conducted rate studies for utilities across the United States and has extensive experience applying industry best practices. SCWA chose to work with an independent firm to ensure our rate structure is reliable and equitable and that we can continue providing high-quality, safe water long into the future.
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All protests must be in writing and submitted by either the property owner or a utility customer.
Should you submit a protest, it must include the property service address and/or the assessor’s parcel number (APN), the eligible individual’s name (property owner or customer account holder), a statement to the effect of “I protest the proposed water rates,” and an original signature.
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SCWA is committed to ensuring our service is affordable for everyone we serve. In keeping with that commitment, SCWA offers a Lifeline Ratepayer Assistance Program.
Proposed Fees and Charges
SCWA provides clean drinking water to over 63,000 households and businesses across eight different areas in Sacramento County. Our team works tirelessly every day to maintain and upgrade equipment, test water quality, follow regulatory guidelines, and manage the costs of chemicals and electricity to ensure you have safe water.
Since our last rate adjustment in July 2020, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has surged by 21%. This rise in inflation significantly impacted SCWA, driving up the costs of electricity, chemicals, materials, and labor—especially for the specialized components for water utilities. Throughout this period, customer water rates have remained the same. While SCWA works diligently to keep costs as low as possible, the combination of increasing service reliability, meeting operational and regulatory requirements, and extraordinary inflation makes rate increases necessary.
SCWA is working with an independent consultant to ensure our rates only increase as much as they have to, not a penny more. Our current and proposed rates are pictured below.
Tables 1 - 3: below shows current and proposed monthly water fixed charges by meter size for three customer classes – Residential, Commercial/Industrial, and Irrigation-only. Note that charges shown are monthly, however, most customers are billed every two months.
Table 4: below shows volumetric rates per hundred cubic feet (hcf) of water used. One hcf is equal to approximately 748 gallons of water.
Table 5: below shows the graduated service charge and water quantity conservation discounts. The discounts are applied to bills for metered customers who use either 0 to 7 hcf monthly or 7 to 15 hcf monthly. For bi-monthly billing, the conservation thresholds are doubled to 0-14 hcf and 14-30 hcf. Use greater than 15 hcf per month does not receive a conservation discount.
Tables 6: below shows current and proposed flat rate service fees, which are charged to Residential customers who do not currently have a metered connection. SCWA is working to install meters on every connection – a project expected to be completed by 2028. Flat rate service for other customer classes varies. See full report for details.
