Kingsburg finance committee reviews draft water rate plan that would raise revenues and reshape charges

Kingsburg Finance Committee — Feb. 11 — The Kingsburg Finance Committee heard a presentation from consultant Lisonbee Lekwitz and city staff on a draft 2024–29 water rate study that proposes shifting the utility from a base-fee model with an 11,000-gallon allotment to fully volumetric billing and raising revenues over five years to cover operations, capital projects and reserves.

The study, presented by Lisonbee Lekwitz of Lekwitz (municipal consultant), lays out three options. All three seek to raise revenues roughly to the same cumulative level over five years: to cover a projected operating shortfall, fund about $3.9 million in capital improvements, and grow the water fund balance from about $1.2 million to just over $2 million. ‘‘Your water rates have not been increased in a few years now,’’ Lekwitz said during the presentation, noting the increases are partly to ‘‘play catch up’’ for higher operating and supply costs.

Why it matters: the city’s water enterprise must be self-supporting and show cost-of-service under California’s Proposition 218 process. The plan the committee reviewed would become the administrative record for Prop. 218 noticing and public protest procedures. Staff and the consultant described a tentative timeline to mail notices, set a May 16 written-objection deadline under recent administrative-procedure changes, hold a Prop. 218 hearing in June and—absent a majority protest—implement rates July 1 with the first bill impact on the Aug. 1 statement.

Key det…