Aubrey's water and sewer rates could look different by next year. The City Council on Thursday, Oct. 22, considers hiring Raftelis Financial Consultants for a new cost-of-service and rate design study, at a cost of no more than $67,180, that would test steeper charges for heavy water use and set residential and commercial rates by what it actually costs to serve each group.
The contract is on the consent agenda, a list of items the council treats as routine and can approve in a single vote unless a member pulls one for discussion.
Why now
A staff report from Controller Marissa Newton says a lot has changed since the city's last full study. Aubrey has added a large number of utility accounts, switched to a new billing system and borrowed heavily for its wastewater treatment plant expansion, including a $50 million debt issue in fiscal 2024.
Debt payments are now the biggest piece of what the utility needs to collect, and the customer and usage data in the city's current rate model still reflects fiscal 2022.
Raftelis has done this work for Aubrey before. Its 2025 study, presented in March of that year, recommended 3% water and wastewater increases for fiscal 2025 and 5% for fiscal 2026, a $10 cut in the fixed water and sewer charge for seniors, and billing wastewater on actual use instead of a cap.
The firm estimated fiscal 2027 at about 5% and advised updating the study before then.
What the study would look at
The report lists five pieces of work:
- Rebuilding account, meter and usage data for fiscal 2023 through 2026 from the new billing system, projecting growth and comparing future demand with the city's well capacity and its Upper Trinity Regional Water District contract to see when more supply will be needed.
- Extending the water and wastewater financial plans through fiscal 2036, including a look at how heavily they lean on impact fees.
- The city's first cost-of-service analysis by customer class, so home and business rates rest on the cost of serving each instead of a fixed gap between them.
- Alternative rate structures. Each residential water tier now costs only 6% to 7% more than the one below it, while the Texas Water Development Board recommends at least 25%, and 50% to fully encourage conservation. One option Raftelis would test keeps the first tier at today's rate to protect basic household use.
- A three-year rate plan for fiscal 2027 through 2029, with the effect on customer bills and a comparison with peer cities, presented to the council in person.
