The price increases include:
- 4%-45% increase on residential water service
- 7% increase for commercial water customers
- 3% increase for wastewater services
- 7%-50% increase for reclaimed water customers
The rate increases will raise the average residential customer's water and wastewater bill from $90.46 to $94.71 per month, according to city data.
The details
For residential water customers, a 7% increase is needed to keep up with infrastructure projects and demand; however, in December, the City Council instructed staff to keep the impact on average users low while passing a more significant share to higher users to encourage conservative water use.
The city charges a base price based on water meter size—a 5/8-inch meter will have a base charge of $30.08 per month and a 3/4-inch meter will cost $62.68 per month following the updated costs—and an additional charge for each gallon used. The billing is tiered, meaning the first 0-6,000 gallons are charged at the same rate for every user. The next 3,999 gallons are charged at a slightly higher rate and so on.
The city calculated the monthly cost to residents under the increases as:
- $2.40 for a home using 5,000
- $3.65 for a home using 13,000
- $8.82 for a home using 26,000
- $143.27 for a home using 70,000
- $375.83 for a home using 110,000
Finance Director Sarah Buckelew said the city feels the most conservation can be encouraged with customers who use 25,001-50,000 gallons. She said this number likely included some unnecessary use. Beyond 50,000 gallons, she said the city has seen the users are typically willing to pay whatever rate the city is charging as their bills are already significantly larger; for example, someone using 110,000 gallons of water a month is already spending more than $1,000 a month.
Zooming out
While staff initially proposed a 7% across-the-board increase for reclaimed water rates, the council approved a 7%-50% increase to signal the importance of conservation.
“It is a delicate balance encouraging use and discouraging abuse,” Buckelew said at the Dec. 10 meeting.
“Fifty percent seems like a large increase, but that’s $1 for every 1,000 gallons. What it does is create enough separation between the tiers that [users] will feel the difference as they enter each tier,” Buckelew said.
She said reclaimed water is their No. 1 tool for conservation. Reclaimed water, which is used for irrigation only, has replaced 10% of the city’s potable water use, and there is a high demand for reclaimed water.
One more thing
Council also discussed options to increase commercial water rates so that they were higher than residential rates at all usage rates. As the tiers are different for both types, Buckelew said it was challenging to make that work. However, many commercial customers pay higher base rates due to having larger meters.
Buckelew said she wanted to ensure that the rates didn’t punish businesses for using the water they need for business.
Wolosin said he wants to ensure the city continues to encourage businesses to conserve water.
Going forward
Based on its rate study, the city anticipates rate increases over the next five years to fund projects in its Boerne Utilities Capital Improvement Plan. The city opted to spread the increase over five years to avoid a significant one-year increase.
The list of needed utility projects includes:
- Water treatment plant expansion (Boerne City Lake)
- Ammann Road water projects
- Expanded water line to connect to second Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority delivery point
- New ground storage tank and pump station
- New water transmission main
