Rio Vista panel approves outreach plan and forwards water, sewer rate studies to council

The Rio Vista Municipal Rates & Utility Committee on Feb. 27 adopted an outreach plan for proposed utility rate changes and voted to recommend the water and sewer rate studies be sent to City Council for approval and Prop 218 notice, with rates tentatively scheduled to take effect July 1, 2025.

Committee members said they prefer multiple community presentations and short video summaries rather than one long meeting. Christina Coleman, who led the outreach portion of the presentation, said outreach presentations to nonprofits such as Trilogy and CORE will be completed by March 31 to meet an anticipated May 20 public hearing and allow a July 1 implementation from a budgeting perspective. "That would allow us to make the rates effective on July 1, which from a finance perspective makes it easy for budgeting purposes," Coleman said.

The committee then heard a technical presentation from Sarah and consultant Jeremy on the rate studies. Sarah described the three-step approach — a financial plan, a cost-of-service analysis and rate design — and said the study targets a July 1, 2025 effective date if the council approves the schedule. Jeremy confirmed there were no substantive changes to some rate slides and that fixed meter charges are set by meter size. "We'll start with the water rate study first…rate implementation there in 07/01/2025," Sarah said.

Presenters walked the committee through changes from an earlier draft, explaining that updated beginning reserve balances allowed the consultant to flatten first-year increases across a five-year period. A committee member noted the study's projected additional revenue for fiscal 2025–26 was revised from $1,170,000 in the January draft to $843,000 in the updated version; consultants said recalculating reserve balances accounted for much of that change.

On sewer, the presenters described separate five-year plans for the Northwest and Beach treatment systems and a capital-improvement funding summary. Staff clarified that large projects tied to a State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan — including a consolidation of two plants with an estimated project package discussed during the meeting — are not included in the near-term five-year capital totals unless and until the loan is secured. A city representative said the loan application has been submitted and that, if the SRF loan is awarded, the first year of debt service would be factored into later years of the study (the presentation referenced the fifth year of the plan).

Public commenters pushed for clearer, plain‑language materials and questioned the SRF assumptions. Fred, a resident who addressed the panel during public comment, challenged the existence and explanation of SRF loan funding and warned residents would be surprised later if rates were increased to repay loans. "You're not allowed to incur debt without explaining it to people," he said, requesting a straightforward explanation of who would repay loan debt and by how much.

Committee members and staff responded that the city had applied for SRF funding, that exact loan terms cannot be set until a loan offer is accepted, and that the rate study shows debt‑service impacts only if and when the loan is secured. Jeremy acknowledged a technical error in the cost-of-service slides — "the COSA slides have not been updated" — and apologized; he said the rate slides reflect the correct updated revenue requirement.

Before the vote, committee members emphasized transparency, posting of the full capital-project lists on riovistarates.com, and formation of an oversight group to monitor that projects identified in the study are completed. Committee member Hector Dela Rosa said the process and additional scrutiny had made the study more transparent. "These capital projects are needed not only to maintain facilities, but also to replace equipment that has been and is outdated or has reached its useful life," he said.

A motion to forward the rate studies and proposed outreach to the City Council passed on a roll-call vote with the members present recorded as voting yes. If City Council approves the studies, staff will mail Prop 218 notices at least 45 days ahead of the public hearing; the notice and protest process will follow state law and the city will count one written protest per utility account, with a majority protest among ratepayers blocking adoption.

Next steps: staff will post the full rate-study report and supporting materials on riovistarates.com and prepare the materials for the City Council presentation and Prop 218 mailing. The council will select the hearing date after receiving the full report and may adopt rates if there is not a majority protest.