Cotati reviews multi-year budget; staff proposes water/sewer rate adjustments and details capital priorities

Cotati City Council on May 15 held a special budget study session to review proposed budgets for fiscal years 2025–26 and 2026–27, focusing on enterprise funds (water and sewer), capital projects, and special revenues and internal service funds. Staff outlined proposed rate changes, capital project lists and reserve assumptions and answered council questions about project timing and funding.

The presentation was led by Angela Quarter, director of administrative services, who summarized enterprise fund assumptions and a prioritization approach that groups capital work into A (funded) and B (contingent) lists. "In this section, we'll go over the enterprise funds, capital funds budgets for these years," Quarter said. She told the council the budget incorporates a required reserve equal to 33% of operating expenses for each enterprise fund and that proposed water-rate adjustments follow a rate study presented to council in February and mailed to customers as notices on Feb. 18.

Staff told the council the water rate change for 2025–26 is based on the rate-study schedule and was presented as roughly 10.6% (characterized in the materials as 11% when rounded). For sewer, staff said the larger change reflected a higher subregional charge that Cotati pays rather than a local Cotati rate increase; council members distinguished the citys own rate study (about 10% for…