Canyon Lake staff warn rate increases likely as agency finishes rate study; reiterate ban on backyard chickens to protect reservoir and flag generator-regs risk

At a March council meeting, a staff member described an ongoing rate study and told the council that water rates for existing customers likely will increase once the city completes budget decisions and picks a scenario.

The staff member said the city has “embarked on a rate study that is in the middle of finishing up” and that council members should expect concrete numbers next month or in a memo if staff are out of town. The staff member said the city must follow Proposition 218 notice and participation requirements when setting rates: “It dictates how we set rates, how you're informed as a customer, how we set rates, what your rights are to those rates, and how you can participate in that rate setting.”

The staff member distinguished capacity fees from customer rates, saying, “Capacity fees are designed for new people to pay for new development. And rates are designed for existing customers to pay for existing things like chemicals, like imported water costs, like existing labor, like that hundred million dollar PFAS treatment plant that I get to build…”

Why it matters: the staff member linked growth in operating and capital costs — including a large PFAS treatment plant…