Commodity Charge

The District’s commodity charge is based on water usage. The cost to the consumer for water is lower if less water is used and higher if more water is used. The commodity charge is metered in units. One unit equals 748 gallons.

Bi-Monthly Service Charge

The District’s service charge is levied against all customers in the District on a bi-monthly basis based on the size of each meter on the customer’s premises. The charge recovers costs associated with providing water to the serviced property, which do not vary with consumption. These costs include meter reading and billing customers for each bi-monthly period, maintenance of meters and service lines in the distribution system, administrative costs, water quality testing, and salaries and benefits.

*The District is often asked about the factors that determine the bi-monthly service charge. When a customer applies for a residential meter, several factors are taken into account to make sure the size of the meter matches the demand being placed on the water system by the proposed project. During the design phase of property improvement, the size of the meter is usually determined by the architect hired to design the building and its plumbing. This is done by taking into account the number of fixture units for the project. In addition, the City’s fire department, in conjunction with the homeowner’s fire protection engineer, reviews the size of the meter needed to meet code requirements for the fire sprinkler system.

Fire protection demands are a significant impact on the District's water system. The components of public and private water systems have to be properly sized to meet these demands, as well as normal usage demands. Even though the amount of water that is used overall for fire protection is small, a fire can have an enormous impact causing great demand on a water system for a short period of time. The service charge on a meter pays for the infrastructure needed to supply your demand at anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The revenues from the charge pays for the upkeep of piping, valves, pumps, energy standby charges, auxiliary equipment, storage tanks, and source water connections which are all the components needed to deliver a quantity of water for property and perhaps life saving protection.

Because higher costs are associated with larger meters, as described above, it would be inequitable for residential customers with a ¾-inch meter to bear the cost burden for those customers with larger meters. The District’s responsibility is to distribute costs equitably among all its customers.

User Fees

User fees are imposed for a service provided or required due to the request or action of an individual/entity. The District charges user fees for a variety of specific services provided on behalf of a private citizen or group. The underlying assumption for the user fee is that costs of services benefiting individuals (not the entire District service area) should be borne by the individual(s) receiving the service.

Water Capacity Fees

Utility capacity fees are one-time payments imposed on new development for its proportional share for capital improvements, resulting in available capacity for future demand. Public utilities assess capacity fees to help offset costs for tapping into available system capacity and providing new facilities to support future development. Capacity fees are based on the principle that new development should pay for required water system capacity that existing customers initially funded. Collection of water capacity fees can, over time, reduce the magnitude of rate increases and the need for future debt financing that otherwise might be needed for capital improvement acquisition and/or replacement needs.

The District’s water capacity fee is imposed on new development connecting to the District water system for the first time or existing connections requiring additional capacity in the system (e.g., a ¾ inch meter upgrading to a 1 inch meter). The fee calculations use a recoupment (buy-in) approach that identifies the demand that new water connections place on the District’s water system. To calculate the capacity fee, industry standards and best practices are utilized within the guiding framework of California’s legal requirements related to utility capacity fees.

All fees are reviewed annually as part of the budget process and adjusted as needed.

FY 21/22 Fee Schedules

FY 22/23 Fee Schedules (effective September 1, 2022)