Drinking Water Rate Increase "On Tap" For July

The process began last night

Last night, the Oro Valley town Council started opened the spigot for a 2022 – 23 water rate increase. The increase would be effective next July.  

The Council started the process of increasing the water rate by approving a notice to all that a water rate increase is being considered. The actual approval of the increase will not happen until June when there is a hearing before council.

Increase is part of a long term plan

The proposed increase is consistent with Water Department Utility Director Peter Abraham's plan to annually increase rates in small increments rather than implementing a large increase every few years.

The bottom line: Every user will experience an increase in drinking water cost

"The financial impact of the proposed base and commodity rate increase for a customer with a 5/8-inch meter using 7,000 gallons is $1.79 per month. Customers with a 5/8-inch meter represent 87 percent of the total customer base and include residential, commercial and irrigation classifications with the vast majority of those being residential. The base rate increase would be $0.95 per month for all customers with this meter size. The proposed commodity rate increase for customers in Tier 1 would be $0.12 per 1,000 gallons used per month."

The actual cost of the increase will be greater because of the taxes and fees that are added to your water bill. Some of these, the sales tax and utility tax, are a percent of the bill.

All water users will see some increase in water rates as shown in the table above.

There is no change proposed to the cost of reclaimed water.