TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: Tom Westbrook, City Manager
SUBJECT:
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Discussion Regarding Ownership and Operational Alternatives for Municipal Water and Wastewater Utilities
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RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
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Receive information regarding the various ownership, governance, and operational models available for municipal water and wastewater utilities and provide direction to staff, if any.
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SUMMARY:
The City of Red Bluff owns and operates both a municipal water utility and a wastewater utility that provide essential public services to residents, businesses, and industries throughout the city. Red Bluff, like many cities throughout California, faces increasing costs associated with maintaining aging infrastructure, complying with increasingly stringent state and federal environmental regulations, and funding significant capital improvements necessary to ensure reliable service for future generations.
Recent planning efforts, including the Water and Sewer Master Plans, have identified substantial long-term infrastructure investments. The City is currently in a Proposition 218 process to adjust water and sewer rates that have been in place since 2012. In addition, the City is currently pursuing financing opportunities for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Reliability Project through the State Water Resources Control Board's Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) program and must adjust sewer rates to be eligible for those funds.
As cities throughout California evaluate long-term financial sustainability, some agencies have explored alternative governance, ownership, or operational structures for utility systems. These alternatives range from maintaining full municipal ownership while contracting operations to transferring ownership to another public agency or, less commonly, selling utility assets to a regulated investor-owned utility.
The purpose of this report is informational only and is intended to provide the City Council...
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