SAN ANTONIO — It’s been a while since San Antonio residents have seen their water bill climb.

They could see a rate increase as early as July. The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) Board of Trustees voted to increase rates, but it still needs the City Council’s approval for the rates to change. 

“At this point, we would be doing ourselves a disservice without asking for a rate increase because in the future our community needs things, needs infrastructure… needs infrastructure improvements,” SAWS Chief Finanical Officer Cecilia Velasquez said. 

Velasquez says the rate increase would meet requirements from a Texas law passed in 2021, which requires utility companies to have backup generators at water pumps in case water is needed during a prolonged power outage. 

“We need to fix what is broken and fix what needs repairing,” Velasquez said. 

Those rate changes will increase by over 32% by 2029. SAWS hasn’t increased rates since 2020, and they actually lowered rates in 2023. Velasquez said not addressing these issues could lead to hefty fines from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

“For whatever reason, we can’t get a rate increase that actually would be unfavorable for SAWS in terms of our credit rating,” Velasquez said. 

The higher a utility system’s credit rating, the less expensive infrastructure loans can be for cities. 

Texas cities like Corpus Christi, Houston and Dripping Springs have raised their rates this year to address water and wastewater infrastructure. San Antonio Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito says her constituents are completely against the rate increase. 

“To me, it does not feel right to ask my residents, to look my residents in the eyes and ask them to pay more on their water bill,” Gavito said. “When water is literally running down our streets and messing up our streets in the process.” 

Gavito believes an audit of SAWS needs to be done before a decision is made. 

“For me, it’s mind-boggling that we would approve a rate increase before we even have an audit, and they said the audit can’t come until later on this summer,” Gavito said. “Awesome, so let’s wait after an audit comes back and then we can have a conversation about a rate increase.” 

The City Council will vote on June 18 whether to raise rates on SAWS customers.