Huntington Beach, whose water system is aging, considers raising rates and adding a fee

Huntington Beach officials are considering raising water rates and instituting a new capital improvement fee that could add a combined $5 per month to the bills of many single-family residences.

The proposal, announced during a City Council study session Monday, comes amid growing concern at City Hall about replacing aging infrastructure and addressing rising costs.

The biggest increase would come from the capital improvement fee, initially pegged at $3 per month, with 50-cent annual increases through fiscal 2022-23.

City officials noted that Huntington Beach’s massive water infrastructure — which includes eight active wells, four reservoirs, 611 miles of large distribution mains, about 53,000 meter connections and 5,800 public hydrants — has an estimated value of $1.4 billion. Some major components were built in the 1950s and ’60s — a period of major growth — and are reaching the end of their usefulness.

The city plans to mail notices about the proposed increases in January and schedule a public hearing in March. If approved by the council, the hikes could go into effect Oct. 1, 2018.

Mayor Barbara Delgleize said she liked the way the increases are planned to be incremental.

Councilman Patrick Brenden expressed concern when city staff couldn’t give him an answer as to why other water agencies are seeing their costs rise and then passing on those hikes to cities like Huntington Beach.

“That’s part of the problem with the way our water system works,” Brenden said. “We’re sort of at the mercy of some other agencies.”

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