PUBLIC HEARING & 2ND READING OF AN
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF NATIONAL CITY REPEALING
ORDINANCE NO. 2023-2521 AND ADOPTING
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING SEWER
SERVICE CHARGES FOR FY 2025-2026,2026-
2027, 2027-2028, 2028-2029, 2029-2030
MAY 20, 2025
Item 9.1
• ON MARCH 4, COUNCIL ACCEPTED THE SEWER RATE STUDY
AND SCHEDULED THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 6, 2025
• PUBLIC NOTICING WAS SENT OUT TO ALL PROPERTY
OWNERS AND RESIDENTS MARCH 12, 2025
• INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING ON MAY 6, 2025 WHERE
COUNCIL HELD A PUBLIC HEARING
• PUBLIC COMMENT AND 6 PROTEST VOTES RECEIVED
• IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS RAISED ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED TONIGHT
Background
• FLOW RATE
STRENGTH OF SEWAGE BY CLASSIFICATIONS (RESIDENTIAL VS.
COMMERCIAL)
WATER USAGE – PERCENTAGE OF ANNUAL FLOW OR WINTER WATER USE • FLAT RATE
BASED UPON CLASSIFICATION OR COMPARATIVE TYPICAL USAGE
• COMBINATION OF FLOW & FLAT RATE
COVER BASIC O&M & CAPITAL IN THE FLAT PORTION
53% OF THE AVERAGE COSTS
CURRENT STRUCTURE: RESIDENTIAL-FLAT, COMMERCIAL-FLOW
Methodologies
May 20, 2025
• NO OTHER AGENCIES FOUND IN LOS ANGELES, ORANGE, OR SAN DIEGO COUNTY
THAT USE THIS METHODOLOGY
• SOME PRIVATE APARTMENT COMPLEXES USE A BD COUNT METHOD TO DIVIDE
WATER, SEWER & TRASH BILLS - DRIVEN BY WATER COSTS
• CHALLENGES
• Water Consumption not available for each Multi Unit
• Difficult to get # of bedrooms in a Complex and Units • What to do with unpermitted Additions or ADU’s
• Accuracy of data questionable – lots of time to research • Doesn’t reflect how many people are in a unit
• Likely to be inequitable still
Bedroom Count Methodology
May 20, 2025
• WATER SERVED BY SWEETWATER AUTHORITY
• Use the total flow for the customer classifications and calculate the average that is used to develop flat rates for Single Family, Multi-Family & Mobile Home • THE FLOW VARIANCE ACROSS SFR PROPERTIES IS NOMINAL
• No way to differentiate Irrigation from Interior Water Use • WATER USAGE ON PROPERTY RECEIVED IN JANUARY FOR PRIOR YEAR’S USAGE
• Property owner receives billing on tax roll the following October • PROPERTY DATA SOURCES: SANGIS, COUNTY ASSESSOR, POST OFFICE, &
GOOGLE IMAGES
Residential Flat Rate
May 20, 2025
• LIMITED CITY STAFF
• COSTLY TO CALC & BILL (DATA VALIDATION)
• EFFORT AND ISSUES WITH LAG OF DATA
• MORE THAN HALF OF THE BILL WOULD STILL BE A FIXED AMOUNT • INDIVIDUAL CALCS WOULD RISK COMPLAINTS DUE TO TURN OVER OF UNITS
• Ultimately the property owner responsibility
• STABILITY OF BILLS – SWING IN USAGE FROM ONE RENTER TO NEXT Challenges Billing on Flow
May 20, 2025
• TOTAL OF 555 SINGLE FAMILY PLUS 1 MULTI-FAMILY CURRENTLY IN CITY
SEWER BILLS
• Cannot differentiate between Duplex’s & ADU’s
• 47 ADU’S RECEIVED CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY IN LAST 3 YEARS • Analysis shows Water Use increases about 50% after ADU • TESTED A FLAT PLUS FLOW CALCULATION WITH ACTUAL FLOW DATA • The anticipated Sewer Service fee on average is almost the same as billing a Single Family & 1 Multi-Family
Single Family Plus 1 Multi-Family
(ADU or DUPLEX)
May 20, 2025
FY 2026 National City Single Family
Rate vs. FY 2025 Metro Agencies
Average Metro FY
2025 Monthly Rate:
$62.21/month
National City 15%
lower than Average
Metro FY 2025 Rate
Recommendation
APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE TITLED, “AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY, CALIFORNIA, REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 2017- 2442, AS AMENDED BY ORDINANCE NO 2023-2521, AND ADOPTING AN
ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING SEWER SERVICE CHARGES FOR FISCAL YEARS 2025-2026, 2026-2027, 2027-2028, 2028-2029, AND 2029-2030”