Rolling Out The New Water Rates

IN 1996, VOTERS IN CALIFORNIA APPROVED

PROPOSITION 218 Voter Approval Requirement for Local Tax Increases Initiative. Prop 218 set down rules and processes for how local agencies may raise taxes and service rates. Essentially, water providers such as the Santa Margarita Water District may not charge rates more than the cost of providing water and maintaining infrastructure for ensuring reliable service. Those costs are identified through a rate study typically conducted by an outside, third-party.

After all the required studies, public notifications, and public hearings water rates may be set. Right now, the District is restructuring all water rates to better reflect actual usage and costs. When all is said and done, some residential customers will see smaller bills; those with more than the average number per household. Other residents will experience modest increases; some as much as $30 per month. These adjustments are designed to spread the costs more fairly among all San Juan Capistrano residents.

Your specific water rates will reflect the average use by residents in Single-family and Multi-family homes. Your household “water budget” is set for a default of four persons per household each using 55 gallons per day during a billing cycle. Variances are available for households with more than four people. This is described as Tier 1.

The Tier 1 estimate is converted from gallons to units of one hundred cubic feet (CCF) and appears as the Indoor Budget on your bill. Tier 2 includes a total of estimated indoor and outdoor usage (which can be equal to estimated indoor usage) and is shown as the Total Water Budget (TWB) on your bill. Tier 3 is up to 200% of the TWB; Tier 4 is above 200% of the TWB.

You can find more on our website at www.smwd.com, where you can find a water bill estimator.