The East Bay Municipal Utility District will raise service rates and charges over the next two years to support a $2.8 billion improvement program, the district announced.
Water rates for the district’s 1.4 million customers will increase on July 1 of this year and on July 1, 2024. Actual changes on the customer’s bill will depend on their water usage, but EBMUD said the average single-family customer water bill will rise 19 cents per day this year, then another 21 cents per day with the 2024 increase.
Wastewater customers — about 740,000 people, mostly west of the Berkeley-Oakland hills — will see rate increases in 2024 and 2025. Each increase will be 7 cents per day.
“These new rates are necessary for EBMUD to build and maintain resilient and reliable water and wastewater systems,” said EBMUD general manager Clifford Chan.
Rate increases will support EBMUD’s two-year budget and a $2.8 billion, five-year improvement plan. The district’s plans include upgrading its water treatment plants, replacing aging pipelines and sewage collection systems, rebuilding neighborhood reservoirs, and updating wastewater facilities.
EBMUD, which recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, stated that it needs to maintain and replace its aging infrastructure and prepare for future weather events driven by climate change.
I guess there’s no money in the budget for upgrades and maintenance . Where is the money going?
Down the drain…
If you consider how old the aging infrastructure is, and how damaging water can be, I can see why.
Well, just look at what water did to make the Grand Cayon, …. just saying.
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Congratulations! Salary increases are buried somewhere in their budget.
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Where is the annual reserve fund that is set aside for the future replacement of the infrastructure? Should be pretty big by now since it should have started twenty years ago.