Cerritos council adopts water and sewer rate study, directs $40 bi‑monthly low‑income discount and schedules Prop 218 hearing

The Cerritos City Council on Oct. 27 received a staff presentation of the 2025 Water and Sewer Rate Study and voted 5–0 to adopt the study, set a Proposition 218 public hearing for Jan. 26, 2026, and direct staff to implement a low‑income assistance program with a fixed bi‑monthly discount of $40.

Alvin Papa, the city’s director of public works, told the council the study models a five‑year schedule of rate adjustments designed to eliminate reliance on General Fund transfers and fund approximately $3.9 million in critical sewer capital improvements and a major treatment project for Well C‑4 on the water side. “To maintain service levels, we have relied heavily on General Fund support,” Papa said, noting that a $24.3 million General Fund loan had been written off in October 2023 and the General Fund has continued to subsidize operations.

Staff presented two scenarios previously chosen by council direction: a gradual five‑year adjustment for water (scenario 2b) and a sewer…