The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners voted to adopt the Long Beach Water Department’s Fiscal Year 2013 water and sewer budget and rates. The Board approved a $122 Million budget that will keep citywide rates at their current levels in the next fiscal year, which runs from October 1 of this year to September 30, 2013. The Board’s action marks the third straight year that water rates have not increased in the City of Long Beach.
The Water Department was able to keep water rates flat for the third year in a row despite having to absorb significant cost increases in recent years related to the purchase, pumping, and treatment of water. When added together, imported water purchases and groundwater pumping fees comprise about 33 percent of the Department’s annual water fund expenditures. Since the Water Department’s most recent water rate increase in October 2009, the cost of imported water has risen by nearly 20 percent, while the cost of pumping groundwater has increased by approximately 32 percent.
Water rates have also remained steady notwithstanding a sustained reduction in citywide water use of more than 15 percent that dates back to late 2007 when the Department first started implementing an aggressive water conservation campaign.
“It’s common to hear people say that water conservation cannot be sustained without having to raise rates,” said Kevin Wattier, General Manager for the Long Beach Water Department. “However, over the past few years in Long Beach we have been fortunate to be able to manage the costs that we have the ability to control in a way that has allowed us to keep rates low, while also maintaining a dramatic reduction in citywide water use,” added Wattier. “It really is a win-win for both our customers and the water supply reliability of our city.”
The average single-family residence in Long Beach that uses 12 billing units (about 9,000 gallons) of water each month will continue to see a monthly combined water and sewer bill of about $52. Long Beach residents also pay an annual parcel tax to the LA County Sanitation District, which gets charged in addition to regular water and sewer services and which brings the average total monthly bill to approximately $64, positioning Long Beach on the lower end of the rate spectrum when compared to other large cities and water service providers in California.
The Department’s Operating & Maintenance budget, which includes costs related to the acquisition, treatment and delivery of water, among other items, comprises about 63 percent of the overall budget. Another 21 percent of the Department’s budget goes toward personnel costs, with the remaining 16 percent of the budget providing funding for the Department’s infrastructure investment and maintenance programs.
With Board adoption now complete, the Department’s FY 13 budget and rates will now go to the Long Beach City Council for final approval before going into effect in October.
The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California, retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.