The Beverly Hills Public Works Department will change the way it charges for water and wastewater. (photo courtesy of the city of Beverly Hills)

Beverly Hills City Council passed an ordinance to adjust water rates in a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 20. The ordinance will change the way customers are charged for water and wastewater services, and will begin to take effect on July 1.

Director of public works Shana Epstein presented the ordinance to the City Council in the meeting. She said the rate adjustments will affect customers differently depending on water usage.

“Low volume users are seeing nominal increases, average users will see a little bit of a decrease and large users will continue to see larger increases as they move forward,” Epstein said.

The ordinance was based on a recent water rates study. The city conducts a rates study every five years to determine appropriate costs of services to continue operations. The city does not make a profit from water services, but must make enough money to cover operating expenses and invest in infrastructure. This year’s rates study found that revenue from water must increase by over $6 million during the next five-year period. However, the study also found that no additional revenue is needed from wastewater. The study recommends a new approach to wastewater billing for more equitable rates, introducing a volumetric charge as opposed to a flat rate.

“Potable water that’s brought to your home on a reliable basis of high quality takes hundreds of miles of pipe, 13 pressure zones, two connections with Metropolitan Water District, three emergency connections with LADWP. We have 10 reservoirs and nine pump stations,” Epstein said. “All of these projects require continued investment in our infrastructure as well as maintenance.”

According to Epstein, a root cause of the needed water revenue is the fact that Beverly Hills has decreased its overall water usage over the past decade. Epstein noted that because the city has taken efforts to conserve water, less water is being used overall, resulting in less revenue from water services.

The new rate adjustments will affect residents differently based on how much water and wastewater each customer uses. Based on the city’s estimates, customers in single-family homes will see the largest increase in costs. The total water bill for single-family homes with low, average and high-water usage will increase 7.4%, 11.7% and 18.5% respectively by Jan. 1, 2028. The rates will change each year over the next four years. Water rates for most customers will increase steadily by about 2% total over the next four years. Wastewater rates for customers in multi-unit dwellings will decrease to varying degrees based on usage.

One resident, Candice Tahour called in to protest the rate changes during the meeting.

“This is not going to affect the top 1%. This is going to affect the lower and middle class. What will happen is people will not be able to move to Beverly Hills and it will indirectly affect the number of students that attend Beverly Hills Unified School District, which is already stumbling as it is,” Tahour said. “The lower and middle class is being crushed. I think this is a big mistake.”

The council members and Epstein addressed some of the concerns about the water rates, pointing out that the adjustments are based on a rates study and that the ordinance had been sent back and forth between the Department of Public Works and City Council multiple times. Epstein also pointed out that one goal of the changes is to make wastewater charges more proportionate based on usage, rather than a fixed cost.

“It’s never a fun task. Whenever we talk about rates, very rarely do people say, ‘wow are we glad you’re having that conversation,’” Mayor Julian Gold said. “Unfortunately, it’s something we have to do … At the end of the day, I do think we can sit up here and say that we’ve looked at this as completely as we can look at this and have real confidence that this is as good as it’s going to be, recognizing what it is.”

To find out how the changes will affect bills, the city recommends using the water and wastewater bill calculator, which can be found at beverlyhills.org/waterrates. Re-sidents can also email questions to askpw@beverlyhills.org or call (310)285-2567.