MONTEREY ONE WATER
Change to Wastewater Billing Process
As a regional entity, Monterey One Water must balance the needs of the region to achieve economies of scale related to the conveyance and treatment of wastewater. We must also balance that sewer service is a shared responsibility – collection by the city with conveyance and treatment by Monterey One Water. While services must be provided in tandem, they are distinct and separate services with independent governing bodies, priorities, duties, and rates.
Effective for service provided on or after July 1, 2024, Monterey One Water will no longer provide direct bi-monthly billing services. The Monterey One Water Board of Directors voted in February 2024 to implement a change to the Agency’s billing process, and to achieve the greatest benefits and efficiencies, this change will apply across all customer accounts and member entities with no opt-out options.
For member entities who historically used the Monterey One Water bill to collect their separate fee for wastewater collection, each must now determine the best path forward for billing its customers.
Potential options include developing their own process to bill customers directly or utilizing the County Property Tax Roll to collect their fee.
Monterey One Water is moving its billing to the property tax roll. With more than 63,000 accounts and 59,000 parcels in our service area, this is the best practice for our Agency. Each member should decide the best practice for its service population. If a member elects to bill customers directly, M1W will not be able to provide the billing services. Errors and quality of service with M1W’s current billing vendor do not make it feasible to continue this service. In addition, the M1W Board directed staff to focus on the implementation of its billing transition to the property tax roll, working through changes and supporting customers.