City raises rates to cover increases in wholesale prices

SUNNYVALE — Residents may have noticed that the rates in their water bills went up this month.

That’s because on June 21 the City Council voted 5-1, with Pat Meyering opposed, to raise rates for potable water, wastewater, solid wastewater and recycled water.

As a result, the monthly bill for the average singlefamily household rose by $8.14, from $143.23 to $151.37, a 5.7 percent increase.

Wastewater rates climbed 8 percent and solid waste and recycling rates 3.5 percent. Commercial rates for businesses rose by the same percentage as residential rates.

The new rates went into effect for the current fiscal year, which began July 1.

According to a staff report, the rate hikes were enacted partly to cover an increase in wholesale water costs. Because consumers are using less water during the state’s drought, water wholesales rose prices to maintain revenue, forcing the city to pay more.

The solid waste increase also goes toward upgrades of the city’s wastewater treatment plant and collection system.

“Customers conserve, and this is the unfortunate irony in that the more the community conserves, the less revenue is collected and the more we have to raise rates,” said Tim Kirby, the city’s assistant director of finance. “The wholesalers also receive less revenue and have to raise rates.”

Sunnyvale’s two wholesalers are the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, both of which hiked prices.

According to a blog from City Manager Deanna Santana, people who use more water now will pay the same rates as those who conserve. In the past, those who used less water were charged a lower rate. But that changed after the California Supreme Court in 2015 upheld a ruling that eliminated a tiered water price structure in San Juan Capistrano that charged heavy water users more per gallon.

Some public speakers at the June 21 meeting were upset that their water rates would go up despite conserving water. “Too many people are being affected by these water increases, and we did what we were supposed to and save water,” said resident Tim Kerr.

Others said it wasn’t fair that households previously in the lower tier would now have to pay more while those in the higher tier would pay less.

“I agree that the rates going up for the people doing the right thing — conserving water — is not right,” said Vice Mayor Gustav Larsson. “Due to the laws we have and how the courts have interpreted, we are restricted by what we can do.”