Water and sewer rates return to the City Council Monday night, July 14.
The council will hold a public hearing on proposed increases to Seal Beach’s water and sewer rates, according to a legal notice published in the July 3 edition of the Sun.
If the council adopts the water and sewer rate increases on July 14, they will go into effect on Aug. 1, 2025.
Prop. 218 creates the rules for the council to vote on the proposed water and sewer rate changes. If 50% plus one of the parcel owners in Seal Beach submit written objections against the water and sewer rate increase, the council can’t increase the rates. If the city receives written objections from fewer than 50%, the council is allowed to vote on the matter.
The process apparently makes a distinction between “protests” and “objections”.
“Written protests (i.e., a ‘no’ vote”) may be delivered to the City Clerk at the Public Hearing, prior to the end of the Public Hearing. In addition, written protests may be emailed, mailed or personally delivered to the City Clerk and must be received by the City Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on July 14, 2025,” according to City Attorney Nicholas Ghirelli.
“On the other hand, written objections explaining why the proposed water and/or sewer rates do not comply with Proposition 218 are due by 5 PM today because the City must have time to respond to them in writing,” Ghirelli wrote in a July 7 email.
(The legal notice advertisement published in the July 3 edition of the Sun said “objections” needed to be received by 5 p.m., Monday, July 7.)
City officials and the consulting firm for the rate study argue that the rate increases are necessary to cover the costs of inflation, importing water, paying the sewer system’s debt ratio, as well as maintaining an aging water and sewer infrastructure.
Some Seal Beach residents have questioned the accuracy of the data used in the rate study. Residents then, and in 2024, called for more study and for cost cuts.
The information below comes from a May 2025 Sun article “Water/sewer hearing set for July 14,” sunnews.org.
The council last looked at water and sewer rates in February 2024. However, the council at that time unanimously closed the hearing without voting on the proposed rate changes.
The consulting firm Raftelis presented the council with two rate scenarios in May: One with $44 million in improvement projects over five years; the other with $34 million in improvement projects over five years.
The second scenario postpones some projects. The rates vary by scenario. The numbers below are taken from the May 2025 slide presentation.
Sewer rates first:
In scenario 1, the sewer rate for a single family home would be a fixed rate of $64.37 (an increase from $48.04) in the fiscal year 2025-26. By fiscal year 2029-30, the fixed rate would be $104.35.
The fixed rate and volume rate for a multi-family home would be $1.63 (up from $1.22) for the fixed rate and $5.36 cents per hundred cubic feet (up from $4) in 2025-26. By 2029-30, the fixed rate would be $2.65 and the volume rate would be $8.69 for one hundred cubic feet of sewage.
In scenario 2, the fixed sewer rate for a single family home is the same as in scenario 1. By fiscal year 2029-30, the rate would be $97.30.
The fixed rate for a multi-family home is the same as in scenario 1. The volume rate would in 2025-26 would be $5.36 per hundred cubic feet. In 2029-30 that would become $8.10 per hundred cubic feet of sewage.
Now, let’s look at the water rates:
Water rates are billed bi-monthly (every two months).
Rates depend on the size of the meter.
In scenario one, a customer with a 5/8 of an inch meter would pay $70.68 (an increase from $52.38) every other month in fiscal year 2025-26. In 2029-30, the rate would be $100.64.
In scenario two, a customer with a 5/8 of an inch meter would pay $66.07 every other month in fiscal year 2025-26. In 2029-30, the rate would be $93.08.
Finally, Leisure World water rates:
The proposed rates assume two 12-inch meters for Leisure World, a private gated community that straddles two council districts.
In scenario 1, Leisure World would pay $,7,458.19 (an increase from $1,331.01) every other month in fiscal year 2025-26. In 2029-30, the rate would be $10,619.56.
In scenario 2, Leisure World would pay $6,971.79 every other month in fiscal year 2025-26. In 2029-30, the rate would be $9,821.00.
