Overview
- The San Antonio Water System board voted unanimously to move a customer rate increase plan forward, with a Public Utilities Group review set for June 3 and a City Council vote scheduled for June 11, and bills could rise as soon as July 1 if approved.
- TPR reports the plan would add a little more than $4 to the average monthly bill each year over four years, reaching roughly $19 more per month by 2030 to fund pipeline replacement and system expansion.
- KSAT describes the timeline as three years and cites SAWS projections that the average bill could rise from $56.68 in 2026 to $75.19 in 2029, with an estimated $4.47 increase in 2026.
- SAWS says customers enrolled in its Uplift assistance program would not see higher rates, which would shield low-income households from the planned increases.
- Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones called the plan the cheapest way to secure facilities that protect public health and avoid regulatory violations, while Councilman Marc Whyte warned the higher bills would add to residents’ costs in a fast-growing city with one of the nation’s largest local pipeline networks.