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Sonoma Water outlines FY26–27 transmission budget; council hears proposed rate increases
Summary
Sonoma Water Financial Services manager Jake Spalding presented a $78.4 million proposed FY26–27 transmission-system budget and composite-rate changes that would affect customers served on three aqueducts. Spalding said the TAC unanimously approved the rates and the board will consider adoption April 28.
Jake Spalding, financial services division manager for Sonoma Water, told the Rohnert Park City Council that Sonoma Water’s proposed FY26–27 water transmission-system budget totals about $78.4 million and that the composite rates for customers served off the system’s three main aqueducts would vary between 8.21 and 8.97 under the current proposal.
Spalding said the budget is driven largely by operations-and-maintenance costs — roughly $48.75 million this year — with capital projects totaling about $10.9 million and subfunds and debt service accounting for the remainder. He highlighted roughly $3.5 million budgeted for hazard-mitigation projects and said Sonoma Water secured about $12.6 million in outside funding for hazard mitigation in recent years. A multi‑decade water-treatment modernization project remains a major upcoming capital commitment, he said.
Spalding described Sonoma Water’s fully volumetric rate structure, which divides operating cost by recent delivery volumes to produce an acre‑foot rate; under that approach, lower deliveries can put upward pressure on per‑unit rates. He told the council the technical advisory committee (TAC) voted unanimously to approve the rates and that the Water Advisory Committee (WAC) and Sonoma Water board were scheduled to take up the item in April.
Spalding asked council members to advise their WAC representative on recommended votes. He said Sonoma Water’s cost per gallon remains low — roughly a half‑cent per gallon on the illustrative slides — and emphasized the agency’s ongoing efforts to secure grant funds and to phase large projects to reduce year‑to‑year rate volatility.
The presentation is informational; no council action on Sonoma Water rates was recorded in the minutes. Spalding invited council members to comment and said the board is scheduled to consider adoption at its April 28 meeting.
