HUNTINGTON BEACH : Water Rate Hike Is Recommended

City staff members, seeking a way to offset projected cost increases caused largely by the drought, recommended on Monday that the City Council raise average monthly water rates by more than $3 for most residential users.

Under the proposal, the average water bill would climb to $17.75 a month from $14.54 for residents of single-family homes and condominiums. Monthly water bills for apartments, which often are paid by landlords, would average $9.92 per unit, up from $7.17. Water bills for commercial users would also increase.

Council members discussed the proposal during a study session Monday before taking a vote on the proposal, which they had planned to do later in the evening.

City officials said the higher rates are necessary to cover an increase projected for the city’s water costs for the fiscal year that begins July 1. According to the city 1991-92 budget plan, which City Administrator Michael T. Uberuaga presented to the council last week, the city’s water costs are expected to rise by $3.17 million next year, to $17.38 million.

Water rates would be set up in a way that would encourage conservation, said Louis Sandoval, city public water director.

The years-long drought statewide is being blamed for much of the cost increase. Sandoval said 70% of the city’s recent cost increases, or $2.2 million, are the result of price increases by state and regional water agencies. And those increases, he said, were made mainly to discourage water consumption. The Metropolitan Water District, for example, which supplies some of the city’s water, is scheduled to raise its rates by 9% on July 1.

To make the city less dependent upon outside water sources, the city plans to spend more next year to maintain water-well facilities. Staff efforts to inform residents about the city’s water conservation program and to enforce it will also add to costs, Sandoval said.

Other factors inflating water costs include salary increases, introducing and maintaining smog-control measures and water-quality testing requirements.