Cambria board hires consultant to update user fees and water/wastewater capacity charges

The Cambria Community Services District voted 5–0 on March 12 to hire Revenue & Cost Specialists (RCS) to update the district’s user fees and water/wastewater capacity fees and to add $55,000 to the FY2025–26 budget to pay for the consultant study. Legal counsel and staff asked that the budget amendment split costs across water and wastewater enterprise funds, and staff said the study is long overdue — many fees are more than a decade old.

RCS consultants Greg Brown and Eric Johnson described capacity fees as charges intended to reflect the current value and capacity of the water and sewer systems, not developer revenue. Brown noted the district’s fees are about 12 years old and said an updated study will base fees on current system valuations and statutes that require reasonable nexus between fees and capital costs. Directors asked for a sense of likely revenue lift and how soon the study’s recommendations would pay back the study cost. Staff and the consultants said the short‑term revenue increase depends on the fee changes adopted and on near‑term development activity; the consultant estimated a six‑month study timeline.

Board action: the board authorized the General Manager to execute the consulting agreement and adopted Resolution 11‑2026 to amend the FY25–26 budget, with the amendment allocated to appropriate enterprise funds. Staff said they will return with recommended fee ordinances or resolutions and the supporting analyses required by Government Code for capacity and impact fees.

What follows: staff and the consultant will complete the analysis, present proposed new fees and supporting documentation, and bring ordinances/resolutions back for board adoption. The board asked staff to show current annual fee receipts and provide an estimate of the time to recoup the study cost when presenting the draft fee schedule.