Fiscal Year 2015 Utility Rate Changes

Hearing Date:

Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Place: City Council Chambers, City Hall
735 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of Santa Barbara will consider, at the above-indicated time and place, a recommendation to adopt a resolution to increase water, wastewater (sewer), and solid waste collection rates charged by the City. Increases would be effective on utility bills dated July 1, 2014 or later. Small variations in the stated percentages may occur due to rounding.

Water Rates
During a drought, the City relies on its customers to preserve remaining water supplies through extraordinary water conservation. At the same time, the City faces increased costs to maintain essential water service, including more expensive capital and operating costs to increase drought water supplies from groundwater and water purchases.

The City is proposing drought water rates to provide a portion of the revenue needed for the City’s cost of water service, and to encourage extraordinary water conservation to ensure the City maintains sufficient drinking water supplies for its customers. You can see the proposed rate changes on our Water Rate Changes webpage.

Wastewater Rates
(Applicable only to customers billed by the City for sewer service).
The proposed wastewater rate change is a 5.5% percent increase to the City's current charges for all customer classes. The maximum monthly charge for a single family residential customer would increase by $2.22 under the proposed rates. The proposed increase will fund operating costs, as well as replacement and repair of the City’s aging sewer system. This includes replacement of critical facilities at the wastewater treatment plant. The City will expand the number of non-residential customer classifications during FY 2015. All non-residential accounts will have the same 5.5% rate increase during FY 2015 as for residential accounts.

Trash and Recycling
(Applicable only to customers billed by the City for trash/recycling collection).

The proposed rate schedule includes an increase for all customer classes (Single Family Residential, Multi-Unit Residential and Business) of up to 1.6%, comprised of the following components: 
    1) 0.9% which represents an an increase in the amounts paid to the City’s contracted hauler tied to the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and, 
    b) increases to the “tipping fees” charged by the processing and/or disposal sites that receive City waste.

The City is contractually obligated to compensate its franchised waste hauler for these increases; as well as a new fee of 0.7% to fund the long-term repair and replacement of the City’s public trash and recycling containers.

In addition to the 1.6% increase described above, rates for Multi-Unit Residential carts and cans will increase by 2%, and Multi Unit dumpsters will decrease by 2%. These adjustments are part of the City’s long term plan to bring Multi-Unit dumpster and cart/can rates to an equivalent price per gallon regardless of the type of container serviced. The impact of this change on actual bills will vary depending upon each Multi-Unit Residential customer’s specific mix of cars/carts and dumpster service.

City Billing & Customer Service

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Forms and applications for Water Accounts:

• Application for Auto Pay
• Application for Extraordinary Use
• Continuous Water Service Agreement
• Application for Utility User Tax Exemption and Cox Cable Discount

Mail all applications to:

City of Santa Barbara
Finance Department
PO Box 1990
Santa Barbara, CA 93102-1990

Links

Water

• Current Water and Wastewater Rates
  The water, wastewater, and buy-in rates and fee resolution can be viewed here. The full Resolution adopting City Fees can be viewed on the Adopted Budget page, under the Council Budget Resolutions Section.
• Water Rate Calculator
• Water Conservation Information 

Trash

• Single Family Residential Trash and Recycling Rates
• Multiple Unit Residential Trash and Recycling Rates
• Recycling and Trash Information

Miscellaneous

• Procedure for Disputing a Utility Bill
• Other Area Utilities