Agua SUD rate increases start in August

Agua Special Utility District customers will start paying slightly higher water and sewer rates in August.

The base rate for residential water customers with standard meters will increase from $16.53 per month to $16.77 per month in August. The base rate for residential sewer customers with standard meters will increase from $8.19 per month to $8.87 per month.

After months of discussion, the utility board approved the rate increases in April.

General Manager Jose E. “Eddie” Saenz reminded the utility board about the rate increases on July 26, when members held a budget workshop at the Isla Grand Beach Resort on South Padre Island.

“People think they’ve already started. We haven’t implemented them,” Saenz said. “It’s going to be in August when they’re going to see their first bill with the new rates.”

The slightly higher rates allow the utility district to keep pace with rising costs, Saenz said, adding that the utility district conducted a rate study before making the adjustments.

Along with higher base rates, the utility district will charge higher usage rates for every 1,000 gallons of water used by certain residential customers.

Households that use 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per month will pay a penny more for every 1,000 gallons of water. That rate will increase from $2.89 per 1,000 gallons to $2.90 per 1,000 gallons.

Most households in the utility district service area, however, use roughly 8,000 gallons of water per month and will not be impacted by the change, Saenz said.

“Very minimal,” Saenz said, adding that the total increase for residential customers would be less than a dollar. “I mean, you’re not going to feel it.”

Under the rate schedule approved in April, both commercial and residential rates will gradually increase during the next four years.