SUNNYVALE SCHEDULES UTILITY RATE REVIEW

 

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The Sunnyvale City Council is scheduled to review the City’s proposed water and sewer utility rates for the coming fiscal year at their June 3 meeting. Recommended rate increases are 10 percent for water and 8.5 percent for wastewater. City Council will consider the rates for solid waste services later this year along with the implementation of the new Choice Collect solid waste rate structure. A separate notice of public hearing regarding proposed adjustments for solid waste services will be released at that time.

If adopted by Council, the recommendations for FY 2008/09 would see total monthly water and sewer utility costs for an average residential customer increase by $4.74, yielding an average monthly water and sewer utility bill of approximately $55.78 at the new rates. The City's commercial rates will increase by the same overall percentage as residential rates.

The primary cause of the recommended increase in water rates is the significant rise in costs for water purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (or Hetch Hetchy System) and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The increase in sewer rates is necessary to cover needed infrastructure and capital costs for the City’s aging wastewater treatment and collection system. 

A notice providing additional detail has been mailed to all utility billing customers in Sunnyvale, and is available on the City’s Web site at UtilityRates.inSunnyvale.com.  The final report to Council will be available on the City's Web site two weeks prior to the meeting.  For information about utility services provided by the City of Sunnyvale, or for additional information, please call the utility billing office at (408) 730-7400, TDD (408) 730-7501. Sunnyvale City Council meets most Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 456 W. Olive Ave. City Hall is served by VTA Lines 22 and 54.