A North Side subdivision got $2 million for its septic crisis. Now it wants a fee break.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Oct. 8 vote will come less than a month after the council voted 7-4 to raise the city\u2019s property tax rate for the first time in more than three decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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SAWS is proposing fixed increases of 6.9% in 2027 and 6.5% in 2028. The rates would then increase between 4.5% and 7% in 2029 and between 4% to 6.6% in 2030. That’s the same ceiling proposed earlier this year, but trustees voted in September to lower the floor for those two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The exact amount within those ranges would be determined by SAWS and city staff. The utility would have to justify any amount above the minimum and get approval from the city’s public utilities office. It wouldn’t return to the council unless SAWS proposed raising rates above the approved maximum.<\/p>\n
If the plan is approved, it would take the average residential customer’s bill from its current $56.68 per month to somewhere between $70.13 and $73.61 in 2030, depending on where the final rate increase lands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Troy Elliott, the city’s chief financial officer, told the council Wednesday that city staffers have reviewed SAWS’ request and recommend approving it, as they did in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alderete Gavito, who represents District 7, referenced the property tax increase \u2014 which she voted against \u2014 during the meeting, saying that she wants to push to get to a lower rate \u201chowever we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she also praised SAWS CEO Robert Puente\u2019s \u201cwillingness to work with us\u201d in recent months. She said the delay gave the council time to \u201cmake sure that SAWS has what they need to do what you all do for our community, but also for us, to make sure that we\u2019re getting the best bet for our residents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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She said her staff compared SAWS’ planned water main replacements in her district to their own list of locations where residents most often report leaks and said the two maps \u201caligned perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSAWS is hitting the nail on the head with where the problem areas are,\u201d Alderete Gavito said. But she said she still wants to make \u201cone more push for us to get a lower bill,\u201d leaving it unclear how she\u2019ll ultimately vote next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She and Mungia have both publicly\u00a0said they contributed to the late-night email Kaur sent to Puente before the June meeting, which Puente referred to as \u201cthe infamous list of questions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mungia on Wednesday asked\u00a0Jelynne LeBlanc Jamison, chairwoman of the SAWS board, to address three of the items on that list:<\/p>\n
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Expansion of the Uplift affordability program to renters in multi-family housing
\nChanges to the utility\u2019s impact fee policy for new development
\nA contract with Second Nature Compost to process\u00a0biosolids\u00a0\u2014 the material left over after sewage is treated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s important to me is making sure the board, you know, bought into certain policy ideas in the long term,\u201d Mungia\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SAWS is still working on solutions to the Uplift program,\u00a0Jamison said. The issue is complicated because most renters in San Antonio don\u2019t directly receive water bills, instead paying their landlords, making it impossible for SAWS to offer a discount directly to those tenants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said the SAWS board has heard clearly that council wants changes to the impact fee policy and that conversations are ongoing about that, and that the board will also consider whether to renew the\u00a0biosolids contract when it ends\u00a0later this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Mungia thanked Jamison for \u201cbuying into those things and for having a long-term strategy and vision for accomplishing them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kaur also praised some of SAWS’ responses to her concerns, but asked for more details ahead of next week\u2019s meeting, including annual targets for expanding Uplift over the next four years and more data about how the rate increase would affect customers using more and less water than the average amount provided by the utility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She also asked Puente for more details about how the utility will address a recent efficiency study that identified ways for SAWS to improve communication and stakeholder engagement\u00a0\u2014 and repeated a frequent concern about needing to improve communication on major construction projects\u00a0that affect drivers and residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McKee-Rodriguez, who was critical of Puente and of SAWS’ proposal in June, didn’t address the rate hike during the meeting. Neither did Councilwoman Misty Spears, though she spoke extensively in support of another item on the agenda, a request to waive $415,575 in SAWS fees for a North Side neighborhood outside city limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Councilman Marc Whyte, who voted for the delay, said SAWS and city staff did well to reduce the minimum increases, but like Alderete Gavito, said he\u2019s going to \u201ckeep pushing\u201d for even lower rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 11 people elected by the citizens of San Antonio to watch over their money, and I think it\u2019s incumbent upon all of us to do what we can to continue to try and keep more of their money in their pockets,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Council members who were supportive of the rate hike in June\u00a0\u2014 Phyllis Viagran, Teri Castillo,\u00a0Ric Galvan and Ivalis Meza Gonzalez \u2014 didn\u2019t indicate during the meeting that they\u2019ve changed their mind. Nor did Mayor Gina\u00a0Ortiz Jones, who was one of the most vocal advocates for the increase earlier this year and remained supportive of it Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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