San Clemente Ratepayers to See Increase in Wastewater Rates

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

San Clemente residents subscribed to the city’s wastewater service will see a 9.5% jump in their monthly rates when they open their bills this October—a change the City Council approved at its meeting Tuesday night, July 18.

Through Fiscal Year 2027, the city will increase its rates 30% as part of a rate schedule option that was first presented to the council at a May 2 meeting. The council’s approval, via a 4-1 vote, sets in motion a period when rates will rise another 6% in 2024, 5% in both 2025 and 2026, and 4.5% in 2027.

Mayor Pro Tem Steve Knoblock voted against the rate schedule.

Raftelis Financial Consultants showed the council in May a Cost of Service study, which was meant to determine how to increase revenue. The council received the option to hike rates 30% or 34% over five years, deciding to pursue the 30% choice.

Financial Advisor Jake Rahn said during Tuesday’s meeting that the self-operating wastewater enterprise needs the money to fund operating costs, capital projects, and reserves.

Given that rates were last increased in August 2016, Utilities Director Dave Rebensdorf informed the council that the city had been steadily eating through its reserve funds over the last few years, another reason for the city to look into adjusting its rates.

“If we don’t implement the rates, we’ll continue to draw down our reserves,” Rebensdorf said. “At some point, we will no longer have funding to replace infrastructure and repair our system.”

Since 2016, most of the roughly 17,000 customers served by the city’s wastewa- ter utility have paid $23.82 per month as their fixed charge, a figure that applies to all with a service meter size of up to 1 inch. Rahn said 96% of current customers have meters of up to 1 inch, an updated number from the 92% the city reported in its 2016 sewer rate graphics.

Additionally, 81% of customers are in single-family residential units, which corresponds with the fee paid for the volumetric Sewer Commodity Rates, another factor that contributes to customers’ total monthly fees.

Currently, the city’s utility department charges single-family residential and

1, 2024, as rates will change with the start of each new calendar year.

Rahn said that although the commodity rates will rise, they’ll also be offset in that the city will calculate the flow that is multiplied with commodity rates in a different manner.

The current $1.44 rate for single-family units is multiplied with a number that represents 90% of the flow during the wet winter month period, taken from October through March of the year prior.

The upcoming rate changes include multiplying the commodity rate by 75% of flow during the two lowest months, February and March.

The flow number will also decrease for multi-family and commercial units.

After the Cost of Service study was completed, Rebensdorf said the city then compared its total monthly cost against other nearby water utility agencies, finding that the city would be the fourthleast expensive.

Knoblock took issue with the rate schedule, claiming that the wastewater

THURSDAY, JULY 20

Zoning Administration

3-4:30 p.m. The city’s Zoning Administration will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at San Clemente City Hall, located at 910 Calle Negocio. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

FRIDAY, JULY 21

Beachside Chat

8-9 a.m. Join San Clemente residents and dignitaries for the weekly Beachside Chat, a spirited, town hall forum on community issues led by a slate of rotating hosts. The chats are held at Dorothy Visser Senior Center, located at 117 Avenida Victoria, San Clemente. All are welcome.

SATURDAY, JULY 22

Challenging Cancer

10-11:30 a.m. The Challenging Cancer group is conducting weekly meetings through Zoom video conferences. The meetings are open to caregivers, people who have a compromised immune system, and people dealing with cancer. To join, email donnavigil2@gmail.com or linda_crdv@yahoo.com. heritagesc.org.

MONDAY, JULY 24

Citizens Amphitheater Committee

3-4 p.m. The city’s Citizens Amphitheater Committee will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at San Clemente City Hall, located at 910 Calle Negocio. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

TUESDAY, JULY 25

Public Safety Committee

3-5 p.m. The city’s Public Safety Committee will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at San Clemente City Hall, located at 910 Calle Negocio. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

Human Affairs Committee

3:30-5 p.m. The city’s Human Affairs Committee will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at San Clemente City Hall, located at 910 Calle Negocio. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.

Because I Love You (BILY) multi-family residential units $1.44 for each 100 cubic feet of water consumed. operations had run successfully over the past few years without increased rates, and that the city was now taking the opportunity to catch up to nearby entities by hiking its rates.

Commercial units are charged higher commodity rates that are also based on the strength of the wastewater they produce, as higher strength wastewater costs more to treat than low strength.

Starting in the October billing period, customers with 1-inch meters will pay a fixed charge of $26.15 and single-family units will pay a commodity rate of $3.05 per 100 cubic feet. Those figures will rise to $27.72 and $3.23, respectively, on Jan.

He also suggested the city conduct a yearly review of rate increases to evaluate their effectiveness.

City officials affirmed that the rate comparison came last in the process, and their main goal was to correct the utility’s negative operating position and stack revenue for future projects and reserves.

6:30-8:30 p.m. The organization Because I Love You (BILY), which helps parents navigate through whatever parenting challenges they may be facing (e.g., failure to launch, substance misuse, disrespect), conducts its weekly meetings on Tuesdays via Zoom video conference and in person/Zoom the first Tuesday of each month at the Outlets at San Clemente’s Conference Room. For detailed instructions on how to participate, email bilysanclemente@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26

Design Review Subcommittee

3-4:30 p.m. The city’s Design Review Subcommittee will conduct a regularly scheduled meeting at San Clemente City Hall, located at 910 Calle Negocio. 949.361.8200. san-clemente.org.