If the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners gives its approval at a public hearing on September 3, bills for water and sewer services in Long Beach will rise 4 percent starting October 1, the start of the next fiscal year.

 

The proposed increase in rates would raise the average monthly combined water and sewer bill for a typical single-family household by $2.20 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, according to a public notice about the hearing.

 

The average monthly water bill would increase $1.76 to $45.66, while the average monthly sewer bill would increase 44 cents to $11.85, the notice states.

 

The water rates are subject to the city’s five percent utility users tax.

 

Both rate increases will help cover a budget deficit projected for the next fiscal year and are part of previously approved plans to keep revenues in line with rising costs, said Anatole Falagan, deputy general manager for the Long Beach Water Department, in an interview with the Business Journal.

 

The water department is projecting a $6 million budget deficit in FY 2016, with $100 million in projected revenue, including miscellaneous sources of revenue, and $106 million in anticipated expenditures.

 

Foreseeing rising costs, the water commission approved a five-year plan in FY 2014 that included drawing on reserves as needed to keep water rate increases “moderate” while slowly keeping pace with rising costs year by year, he said.

 

Rates that the water department pays to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) for imported water, which comprises 40 percent of the city’s water consumption, and the Water Replenishment District of Southern California (WRD), which replenishes groundwater, have risen 87 percent since 2008, Falagan said.

 

In comparison, the water department has raised its rates only 50 percent during that timeframe, he said, adding that the proposal is the third 4 percent water rate increase in the five-year plan.

 

Water conservation efforts in Long Beach mandated by the state because of the ongoing drought have caused revenue to drop since residents and businesses are using less water, he said. However, Falagan said, the water department has “budgeted prudently” and water conservation efforts “continue to be encouraged.”

 

As for sewer services, the 4 percent rate increase is a result of having to comply with stricter state regulations that have mandated increased costs for maintenance activities on the sewer system and capital infrastructure projects, he said.

 

In the short term, the water department took out debt to cover rising costs associated with the state mandates. The water department is now in the second year of a five-year plan to bring revenue in line with expenditures. Initial efforts included studying the sewer system to identify work needed to comply with the new state regulations, Falagan said.