Atascadero council adopts higher one-time sewer capacity charge to help fund wastewater plant

The Atascadero City Council voted unanimously to raise the city’s one-time sewer capacity charge from $6,769 to $8,856 per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU), a change staff said is needed to help pay for existing system replacement and future wastewater treatment-plant work.

City staff presented the change at a public hearing and said the charge combines the value of existing assets with a prorated share of future capital improvement projects (CIP). Public Works Director Debar described the charge as a development-impact style fee: “These are one-time charges ... based upon equivalent dwelling units. That is the average peak flow from a single-family home,” he told the council.

The city’s wastewater rate study produced the new per-EDU figure. Debar said the study includes both replacement-value and growth-related components and that the city adjusts the charge annually to track construction-cost inflation using the Engineering News-Record index. The increase approved on the council dais would become effective 60 days after adoption (staff said that date will be December 14).

Why this matters: Council members and members of a city wastewater task force have repeatedly warned the community that the city’s wastewater infrastructure needs significant work — both to comply with evolving treatment standards and to serve future growth. Staff and the council repeatedly emphasized that the charge is a one-time connection fee, not an annual customer rate, and that it is intended to have new development pay its share of capacity-related costs.

Council discussion touched on how the charge is calculated and the user classifications used to convert nonresidential uses to EDUs. Council member Peake pressed staff on examples — car washes, gyms, offices and accessory dwelling units — and Debar and staff acknowledged the existing user classification table is dated and will be updated. “We are putting out an RFP tomorrow for a new user classification schedule that will take in volumetric analysis,” Debar said, noting the city does not control the local water provider’s account-level data and so must rely on classification studies.

The council approved the resolution to set the new sewer capacity charges on a motion by Council member Funk, seconded by Council member Peake. Roll call recorded unanimous approval.

Clarifying detail: Staff said the current charge of $6,769 per EDU will rise to $8,856 per EDU; the city will adjust the charge yearly for construction-cost inflation. Debar said the city’s current classification table uses a 240 gallons-per-day peak-flow figure to define one EDU and that the city will commission an updated volumetric and classification analysis to refine how commercial and special uses (gyms, car washes, grocery stores, ADUs) are converted to EDUs.

Next steps: The council action adopts the charge; staff will publish the effective date 60 days from adoption and begin the classification study and a broader wastewater rate study that will inform ongoing annual rates and any additional lift-station or collection-system charges.