Water Rates

We're paying for current, in-development, and past water projects in two ways: the "Water Supply Charge" added to the property tax bill, and various surcharges and fees added to the water bill from Cal-Am. Water rates themselves are quite high here, possibly a reflection of the short supply. Here's how it all works.

Water Supply Charge

A MPWMD fee on property tax bill to pay for GWR, ASR, and other "water supply development" purposes.  (No more than 15% can be used for general administrative costs.)

The fee is added to your property tax bill and therefore paid semi-annually. The fee consists of a Meter Charge (30% of the total) and a Usage Charge (70%). This charge was previously part of the water bill, but a CPUC judge ruled that while the fee was legal, it could not be collected via the water bill.

The meter charge is based on the size of your water meter and (for most residential properties) the square footage of the home. Who knew water meters have "sizes" but it turns out they do. The size of the meter is determined by the number of "water fixture units" (sinks, toilets, etc.) that you have. It's not a straight count of the fixtures you have: each fixture is assigned a value assigned by the Uniform Plumbing Code. If you're really into this sort of thing, there are calculators on the internet that will tell you the recommended meter size for the number of fixture units entered.Of course, you don't have control over any of this because the water district installs and owns the meter.

If you have an average-sized home, you most likely have a 5/8" meter. (Now that you know that, you can actually check your property tax bill against the rate charge and see if you're being billed correctly.)

The Water Supply charge applies to properties within the MPWMD service area that are served by the Cal-Am "Monterey Main" system. Please see the Water Supply Charge Rate Table for specifics on how the charge is calculated: http://www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us/WaterUseFee/WaterSupplyChargeRateTable.pdf

The justification for this charge is that it will fund alternative water supply projects, therefore reducing the cost of desalinization. For more information see http://www.mpwmd.dst.ca.us/WaterUseFee/FAQ_WaterSupplyCharge.pdf

Water Service

The water bill is a complicated affair that I've divided into three categories:

• the water
• fees charged by various municipalities
• surcharges authorized by CPUC to fund various projects

To make it more confusing, they like to mix-and-match the measurements used. For example, your allotment is shown on the rate schedule in cubic feet, also referred to as "units." There are roughly 74.8 gallons per 10cf. The billing rates are in 100-gallon increments. So if you live in a 2-resident single family home, your allotment per block is 30 units, which is 3 x 74.8 which is 224.4, which, in hundred-gallon increments is 22.4./100, which is 22.4. Clear?

If you want to figure out the various rates and surcharges, take the number if gallons Cal-Am says you used and divide by 100. (The number of gallons used appears on your bill under "Total water used this billing period.")

Water

Water charges have two components: a "quantity charge", based on usage, and a "meter charge", a flat fee based on the size of your water meter. (See discussion of water meter size above.) The Quantity Charge uses a tiered rate system; that is, the rate goes up the more water you use.

There are 5 tiers (aka consumption blocks). The amount of water usage within each block depends on the number of people, the season, size of the lot, and number of large animals. The more residents and large animals, the more water can be used at the first block rate before you jump up to the next block. For example, if there are 4 people living in a home, each block allotment is 60 cf (approximately 150 gals/day). If your usage exceeds 60cf, then the next 60 cf is charged at the higher Block 2 rate, and so on. For a 2-peson home, the allotment is 30cf (or units). Cal-Am sends a survey each year requesting information about the number of residents and large animals. (Allotments can also be adjusted for medical needs upon request.)

The rates for each block depend on where you live. See the rate chart: http://www.amwater.com/caaw/Customer-Service/Rates-Information/monterey-district.html

Fees & Taxes

In addition, Cal-Am tacks on a percentage for franchise taxes and license fees charged by various municipalities, as follows:

Ryan Ranch	2.05%
Pacific Grove	2.10%
Carmel-by-the-Sea	2.15%
Seaside	1.00%
Del Rey Oaks License Fee	0.11%
Del Rey Oaks Franchise Fee	2.00%
Sand City	0.14%
Monterey	1.05%
unincorporated Monterey County	1.00%

Additionally, there is a 1.5% "Commission Surcharge" the state legislature established in 1982 to be paid by all water and sewer corporations to fund their regulation by the Commission. The CPUC then helpfully granted utility companies authority to pass the fee on to customers under CPUC Code section 403.

City of Monterey adds on a 2% Utility Users tax. Other municipalities may have a similar charge.

As near as I can tell from looking at my own water bill, these charges are calculated based on the previous month's charges. That is, if my water charges in February are 27.50, the Monterey franchise fee would be .29 (1.05% * 27.50), and this amount appears on my March bill.

Surcharges

Generally the same surcharges apply to non-residential customers as to residential customers, but the amounts are different. Rates and surcharges shown below are for residential customers, and are provided to illustrate what we are paying for. For specifics, see the water rates on Cal-Am's site.

NOAA

Purpose	To recover $2,206,873 in payments to the National Oceanic and Atmostpheric Administration (NOAA) for endangered species mitigation activities on the Carmel River Dam. (per advice letter 929)
Type	Tiered Volumetric (usage), added to the general metered rate for each block Note: this doesn't appear as a separate charge on your bill; the amounts shown are added to your rate for each block.
Amount	Rate per 10 cf  / per 100 gallons: Block 1: $0.0071 / 0.0095 Block 2: $0.0126 / 0.0168 Block 3: $0.0253 / 0.0338 Block 4: $0.0505 / 0.0675 Block 5: $0.0884 / 0.1182
Applies to	Monterey Main
In effect	May 1, 2012 through April 30, 2014

Conservation Surcharge - Cal-Am

Purpose	To fund Cal-Am conservation efforts
Type	Volumetric (based on usage)
Amount	$0.0267 per 10cf ($0.0357 per 100 gal)
Applies to	Monterey Main, Bishop, Hidden Hills, Ryan Ranch, Ralph Lane, Chualar, Ambler, and Toro
In effect	"until the Commission [CPUC] directs otherwise"

General Expense Balance Acct

Purpose	In its CPUC filing establishing rates, Cal-Am refers to this surcharge as "Interim Rate True-Ups" but on the water bill it shows up as "Gen Exp Balance Acct." The authorization for this surcharge comes from Advice letter 993-A, but I haven't been able to find a copy of it to know what this is for. I believe it has something to do with them filing a water rates application with the CPUC that was not approved in a timely manner, so they continued to charge the previous rates until the new ones were finally approved. Then they got to apply a surcharge to make up the difference.
Type	Volumetric (usage)
Amount	Rate per 10 cf  / per 100 gallons: Monterey Main: $0.0721 / 0.0964 Bishop: $0.0637 / 0.0852 Hidden Hills: $0.0637 / 0.0852 Ryan Ranch: $0.0522 / 0.0698 Ambler Park: $0.0884 / 0.1182 Ralph Lane: $0.0504 / 0.0674
Applies to	all areas except Chualar
In effect	36 months April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2016

Coastal Water Project - Surcharge 1

Coastal Water Project is another name for the Regional Desalinization Project.

Purpose	Monterey Customers have paid this surcharge to cover pre-construction costs for the now-abandoned Coastal Water Project since 2007. The surcharge was to continue until all costs were paid back. After the CWP was dropped, Cal-Am requested approval to continue this surcharge to recover its costs with interest for CWP. This surcharge is separate from the one that will pay for the WSP.
Type	Percentage of water charges
Amount	Jan 1 - June 30, 2007: 4% July 1 - Dec 31, 2007: 7% Jan 1 2008 - Sept 29, 2011: 10% Sept 30, 2011 until paid: 15%
Applies to	customers in the "Monterey Main" service area
In effect	until paid $2,993,260 + interest (interest rate not specified)

Conservation Surcharge - MPWMD

Purpose	To fund conservation efforts of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (WPWMD)
Type	Volumetric (usage)
Amount	$0.0104 per 10 cf ($0.0139 per hundred gallons)
Applies to	Monterey main, Bishop, Hidden Hills, and Ryan Ranch areas
In effect	"until the Commission [CPUC] directs otherwise"

Memorandum Account

Purpose	To fund the balance of $1,559,968 placed in the MPWMD balancing account. This one is a bit hard to track down, but seems to have something to do with the Carmel River Mitigation Program.
Type	Percentage of total bill (water charges plus all of the other surcharges)
Amount	15.37% (Oct 2013 - March 2013) 6.03% (April 2013 until paid )
Applies to	Monterey Main and Ryan Ranch
In effect	until paid $1,559,968 + interest at the 90-day commercial rate

Seaside Basin Water Rights

Purpose	To recover costs associated with securing Seaside Basin water rights
Type	Meter charge
Amount	based on meter size. Ranges from $0.37 for standard household 5/8" meter to $29.27 for an 8" meter.
Applies to	Monterey Main, Bishop, Hidden Hills, and Ryan Ranch areas
In effect	10 years * $2,755,960 + interest at the 90-day commercial rate *This charge is specified in a Cal-Am filing dated October 2013, but I'm not sure exactly when the surcharge began.