San Diego, California Development News

San Diego City Council Approves Setting Public Hearing for Water Rate Adjustments Mandated by Court Ruling

The San Diego City Council considered a modification to the 2025 water cost of service study and authorized the issuance of a Proposition 218 notice to set a public hearing date for water rate adjustments. This action is mandated by a court decision in the Patz v. City of San Diego litigation, which requires a shift to a single unitary or flat rate for volumetric charges to comply with legal requirements. The city will also pay a $40 million settlement. While the total revenue collected will remain the same as previously authorized, the adjustments will shift costs, with lower-volume single-family residential users seeing an increase (approx. $5.62/month or 7.1%) and high-volume users seeing a decrease (approx. $19.52/month or 5.9%). Multifamily properties and irrigation customers will also see decreases. The council voted 7-1 to approve setting the public hearing date for October 6th, 2026, with Councilmember Foster voting no due to concerns about the fairness and communication of the rate changes.