Tucson is set to continue annual increases in its water rates under a plan the city council could put into effect by July 1, the start of the city's next fiscal year.
Additionally, the council approved raising an assortment of rates and fees for the Planning and Development Services Department, the Department of Transportation and Mobility and the Environment Services Department. Most will affect businesses and commercial customers. Those fees, however, will mostly affect commercial users.
In-total, once fully implemented, the rates and fees across the four departments are expected to generate at least $5.2 million in revenue annually, by the 2028-29 fiscal year.
The water rate increases are included in a notice of intent the council passed Tuesday night. July will mark the beginning of the last year under the current four-year rate cycle, Tucson Water director John Kmiec told the council. It raised the water rate for the city by 5.5% every year between fiscal year 2023-2024 and fiscal year 2026-2027.
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Tucson Water is asking the city to establish the next four-year rate cycle now, even though the current rate cycle had one year remaining. Doing so will provide customers with some level of predictability and give the utility the ability to cover annual operating costs, capital improvement needs and debt service obligations, Tucson Water says.
The City Council approved a plan that will implement four annual 3.5% rate increases over the next four fiscal years, 2026-2027 to 2029-2030, based on a recommendation from Tucson Water staff, Kmiec said. The rate increases are pending council approval.
Additionally, the utility will be adjusting its Water Miscellaneous Fee plan, which was last updated in 2013. That includes one-time or service-specific charges, like a new hookup or a specific service request that "causes an additional administrative or operational cost," Kmiec said. The city will also increase its Central Arizona Project (CAP) Water Resource Fee, which is only administered to new, potable water customers "to recover the cost of acquiring a CAP water contract," he said.
The city will be holding town halls through next month to discuss the increases. There will be six in-person meetings and two virtual meetings for customers.
The first will be a virtual meeting on March 25, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The second virtual meeting will be on April 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Visit http://tucne.ws/1u7f to find the Zoom links to the meetings.
The six in-person public meeting dates and times are:
• Wednesday, April 1, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Randolph Center, 200 S. Alvernon Way;
• Thursday, April 9, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Donna R. Liggins Center, 2160 N. Sixth Ave.
• Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Fred Archer Center, 1665 S. La Cholla Blvd.
• Tuesday, April 14, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the El Pueblo Center, 101 W. Irvington Road;
• Thursday, April 16, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Morris K. Udall Recreation Center, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road
• Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Clements Center, 8155 E. Poinciana Drive.
A public hearing will be scheduled for the City Council’s May 19 meeting. If approved during following that hearing, the new rates and fees will go into effect July 1.
