Fulshear council delays vote on water and wastewater rate changes after residents press for alternatives

Fulshear’s city council on Dec. 16 postponed a vote on proposed water and wastewater rate increases after residents and council members pressed staff for more analysis, alternatives and a short review period.

Residents at the council meeting raised alarm about the scale of projected capital spending and the resulting bills. “Wastewater base charge will increase by 15% in 2026, another 20% in 2027, and another 25% in 2028,” said Matthew Bird, who said he’d calculated projected bill impacts from publicly available documents. Bird told the council the average wastewater user would see an increase of about 71% by 2026, and warned that large‑lot owners would be hit hardest.

Utilities staff presenting the rate study noted that the city’s capital forecasts and construction costs have risen sharply since the 2021 master plan and that peak hourly demand — not just average use — drives much of the system’s needed capacity. “We’re back again for water and sewer rates,” the presenter told council as he walked through updated project costs and peak‑demand data, and later said the city had modeled a $15 change to the base rate that would carry the utility fund to FY27 under current assumptions.

Councilmembers and residents debated alternatives to immediate across‑the‑board increases. Several councilmembers urged aggressive conservation and timing strategies — for example, limiting irrigation during morning peak hours, working with HOAs and commercial customers to shift landscape watering, and using smart meters to detect and disincentivize peak hourly draws. One councilmember proposed and the council approved forming a short committee to dig into the data and policy options before a final vote.

Council did not adopt the multi‑year rate schedule that had been discussed at prior meetings. Instead members voted to postpone action while a committee chaired by Councilmember Cameron (as requested at the meeting) and including staff and community members refines recommendations and quantifies the near‑term shortfall and timing of proposed changes.

What happens next: council directed staff to convene a committee with council and community members, finance representation and utilities staff; council asked that the group report back in January with options that could include targeted peak‑use disincentives, timing restrictions, alternative water sourcing impacts, and a clearer picture of current debts and projected shortfalls.

Key context and numbers discussed at the meeting: residents and staff repeatedly cited multi‑year capital figures in the range of tens to hundreds of millions (staff cited an updated capital need on the order of $108 million in 2024 figures and a rate study line of roughly $195 million of work over three years in public comments). Staff said the $15 modeled base‑rate change would keep operations solvent to FY27 under current assumptions but emphasized that conditions are fluid pending North Fort Bend Water Authority timelines and remaining construction obligations.

The council’s postponement leaves the existing rate schedule in place for now while the committee refines options and staff prepares clearer short‑term fiscal projections for the utility fund.