Seal Beach reopens public hearing on proposed water and sewer rate hikes; continues to Aug. 11

Seal Beach city leaders reopened and continued a contentious public hearing on proposed multi-year water and sewer rate increases, voting to continue the hearing to Aug. 11, 2025, and extending the deadline for written protests to that date.

The hearing drew more than a dozen residents who questioned the scope, timing and transparency of the proposed program and urged the council to delay a final vote until Councilmember Wong could participate. After public comment and discussion, the council approved a motion to reopen and continue the public hearing to Aug. 11 by a 3-1 vote.

Why it matters: The city’s staff and outside consultant said Seal Beach must raise utility revenues to pay for an estimated $44 million in water capital projects and $19 million in sewer projects over five years under the staff’s primary scenario. Staff warned that delaying adoption would reduce available funding by an estimated $300,000 per month and could put the wastewater enterprise out of compliance with bond covenants.

Director of Public Works Iris Lee opened the staff presentation by tracing the multi-year process that led to the hearing and by summarizing staff’s recommended options. “Every moment that we don't take action could lead to potentially more emergencies, failures, costs, and more importantly, risk to your health and safety,” Lee said, describing an option that funds a larger set of capital projects and a smaller option that reduces near-term CIP spending but carries greater long‑term risk.

Steve Gagnon, a consultant with Raftelis Financial Consultants, described the financial model underpinning the proposals and gave specific rate examples used in staff materials. Under the primary scenario presented by Raftelis (scenario 1), residential volumetric water…