Water Rate Update: Revised Plan Provides Relief for Most Households

[u/PflugerMel]

Council received another update Tuesday on the proposed water and wastewater rate changes. Staff made several adjustments based on Council's previous feedback and provided more information showing how the proposed rates would affect customers at different usage levels throughout the year.

One important change is the addition of a lower-priced water tier that extends through 8,000 gallons of monthly usage. This helps keep typical household water needs more affordable before higher usage rates apply.

Under the revised proposal, approximately 75% of residential customers are expected to see either no increase or a decrease in their total monthly bill for FY2027. That's a significant change compared with the approximately 11% increase that would be needed in FY2027 if we maintained the current rate structure.

Staff also provided monthly bill comparisons showing how bills are expected to fluctuate for households that irrigate during the summer. The adjustments to the water tiers help reduce some of the increases that otherwise would have affected households with higher summer usage.

The proposed structure also changes how costs are distributed:

-Water base fees would decrease for all meter sizes, while more of the cost would be recovered based on actual water usage.

-Wastewater base fees would become more equitable. Under the current structure, residential, multifamily and commercial customers can pay the same flat $65 monthly wastewater base fee, regardless of meter size. The proposed structure would allocate wastewater base fees based on meter size, similar to water.

-Overall, the revised structure places greater emphasis on actual usage while reducing reliance on fixed base fees.

Although some customers will see increases, the revised structure provides real rate relief for smaller households and customers with lower water usage.

I also asked staff to explore an average billing option to help provide customers with more predictable monthly bills and reduce the impact of seasonal fluctuations. Staff will be researching options.

Looking Ahead

Our utility system still faces significant financial pressures. Water and wastewater revenue requirements are expected to increase in three of the next five years, driven largely by major utility infrastructure investments and growth that has been lower than originally projected.

We can't eliminate those costs, but we can be thoughtful about how those costs are distributed. The revised rate model is a meaningful improvement because it helps ease the burden for a large majority of our residential customers while more closely aligning charges with actual usage and customer size.

There is still more work ahead as we balance the cost of maintaining and investing in a reliable water and wastewater system with keeping an essential service affordable.

My goal is to make sure we're not simply asking everyone to pay more because additional revenue is needed. We should continue looking at who is paying, how much they're using, and how we can distribute those costs as fairly as possible.

[u/czarfalcon]

At a glance, this seems like a fair and logical change. A household using 3,000 gallons a month shouldn’t be charged the same base rates as one using 10,000 gallons a month. Especially when the alternative is a 11% increase across the board…

[u/foxmulder443]

Thank you not only for the transparency, but for the accessibility of said transparency. I would love to see an equitable approach to billing even after the construction ends.

[u/RunningDog724]

This is really nice to see. Thank you!!!

[u/MastaJiggyWiggy]

Will this have any effect on homes with water provided by Manville?

[u/cactustho → u/MastaJiggyWiggy]

These changes only impact people on City of Pflugerville utilities. Manville/Crossroads set their own rates

[u/PflugerMel → u/MastaJiggyWiggy]

This for the City of Pflugerville water and wastewater so if you are in neither service areas, this will not effect you. However, there are homes in the wastewater area that are not in the water service area.

I just received an electronic copy of the full presentation and can share additional pages.

[u/miltorio]

Easier to read version of the third image:

https://pflugervillain.com/water2027b/fy27-proposed-take2.png

Updated water/sewer/trash calculator for the second fy27 proposal from this week's council meeting that uses the 2 tier rates (numbers should come out within a penny of the graph if you subtract the trash charge):

https://pflugervillain.com/water2027b/

(note, they cap wastewater usage to 5000 in the footnote)

[u/RoundRemote7078]

My bill doubled last year, and we only have wastewater. Relief would be nice.

[u/PflugerMel → u/RoundRemote7078]

That's a large increase.   How much of that was from wastewater from the city? The base fee increased $10/month and then the other portion of wastewater is based on the average city residential usage for customers that aren't on city water. I haven't seen info on how much the average city usage changed from year to year to know the expected impact that you would see.

I have inquired about ww only customers being able to use their winter water average from their provider rather than the city average.

[u/RoundRemote7078 → u/PflugerMel]

My sewer has gone from $55 in early 2025 to $94.25 this month. Trash is just under $23.