El Mirage council approves water rate increase after contentious public hearing; meter replacement debated

The Common Council of the City of El Mirage on May 6 approved Resolution R25-54, establishing changes to water and wastewater rate components that include a 3% water rate increase in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 and a move to a flat sewer rate. The resolution passed after the council first rejected the measure and then voted to reconsider and adopt it 4–3.

The action matters because the rate change is the revenue mechanism identified by staff to pay for a planned replacement of the city’s aging water meters. Public Works staff told the council there are 12,000 water meters in the city that would be replaced under the project; the capital estimate in the budget materials for the meter replacement was $8,500,000. Public comments said residents are already facing rising costs and urged the council not to raise rates.

At the start of the public hearing, several residents urged the council to hold or reduce any increase. “If there’s any way you can not raise the water, that would be great,” resident Tom George told the council during the hearing. Earlier in the call to the public, Jeff Lock asked the council to “live within its means” and asked for a 10% reduction in the city budget.

Staff presentations explained the rationale. The city’s water fund operates as an enterprise fund: user fees are intended to cover the cost of operations, maintenance, debt and capital investment for water service. The public works representative said the current meters were last replaced in 2014 and that “there are 12,000 water meters in the city that will be replaced by this project.” The same presenter said the capital budget estimate for the replacement, including labor and market pricing, was $8,500,000.

Council members and staff debated alternatives. Council members asked whether the general fund could be used to pay for the meter project; the city’s budget staff and city attorney said enterprise funds are intended to be self-supporting and using the general fund to subsidize utility infrastructure would raise legal and policy concerns and could shift costs to El Mirage taxpayers that would otherwise be borne by water customers — including a square-mile area served in the City of Surprise. Deputy City Manager Robert Miller noted that the system also serves Surprise and that “somewhere north of 15% of all of our water usage” comes from that area.

Council debate was vigorous: one motion to approve the resolution failed on an initial vote (two yes, five no). Council then voted 4–3 to reconsider; on the second vote the measure passed, with Vice Mayor Parsons, Councilmember Dorsey, Councilmember Winston and Mayor Alexis Armacillo voting yes, and Councilmembers Aldridge, Gentry and Norton McDaniel voting no.

Councilmembers stressed competing responsibilities: some said delaying replacement risks a failing system and inaccurate bills for customers, while others emphasized current economic pressures on residents and urged the city to find alternatives. Councilmember Dorsey said the enterprise fund structure allows the city to track the true cost of service and that delaying replacement risks greater costs later. Councilmember Aldridge said she would not support the increase because residents are “nickels to nickels” and need relief.

Council direction and follow-up: staff will proceed with the adopted rate schedule and continue procurement planning for the meter project. Staff said procurement had not yet been executed and that the 2014 replacement had cost approximately $3.6 million. Council members requested more precise cost and operations figures (for example, annual cost to read meters manually for the roughly 20% of meters currently read manually), which staff said they would provide.

The council’s vote on R25-54 was the most contentious item of the night; it directly affected the city’s proposed fiscal plan adopted later in the meeting and will be reflected in the city’s consolidated fee schedule and FY2026 budget.