HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 10b - Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
STAFF REPORT
PUBLIC WORKS SERVICES DEPARTMENT
DATE: October 7, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Paul Cranmer, Public Works Services Director
By: John Corona, Utilities Manager
SUBJECT: ACCEPT THE WATER AND SEWER RATE COST OF SERVICE STUDY, DIRECT
THE PUBLIC WORKS SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO FOLLOW PROPOSITION
218 BALLOTING PROCEDURES TO ESTABLISH WATER AND SEWER
RATES, AND CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING AT THE DECEMBER 2, 2025,
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
CEQA: Not a Project
Recommendation: Approve
SUMMARY
On July 16, 2024, the City Council awarded a Professional Services Agreement to
Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. (“Raftelis”) for the Water and Sewer Cost of Service
Study (“Cost Study”). The Cost Study was developed to recommend a new five-year
water and sewer rate adjustment for Calendar Years 2026 through 2030 that would
ensure financial stability to meet capital investment, operational expenses, and build
reserves. The Public Works Services Department (“PWSD”) and Raftelis have been
gathering and analyzing data on the City’s water and sanitary sewer operations to
determine appropriate rate adjustments. At the August 19, 2025, City Council Study
Session, the City Council directed the PWSD to proceed with the implementation of
the water and sewer rate adjustments for Calendar Years 2026 through 2030 based
on the completed Cost Study. It should be noted that financial data and user data is
based on fiscal year (“FY”), but the rates will be implemented by calendar year (“CY”).
It is recommended that the City Council accept the completed Cost Study, direct the
PWSD to follow Proposition 218 balloting procedures to establish water and sewer
rates, and conduct a Public Hearing at the December 2, 2025, City Council meeting.
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 2 of 14
BACKGROUND
The City provides water and sewer services to more than 56,000 residents and
maintains approximately 15,000 service connections, 10 active wells, 15 reservoirs,
168 miles of water mainline, and 135 miles of gravity sewer mainline. Utility rates
fund the operations, maintenance, and capital improvements of the water and sewer
system. Comprehensive water and sewer rate studies are necessary to determine if
water and sewer rate increases are needed to fund ongoing operations and
maintenance budgets, and the Capital Improvement Program. Additionally, rate
studies are also needed to maintain an adequate Reserve Fund balance in case of a
natural disaster or emergency. Comprehensive water and sewer cost of service
studies not only develop rate schedules that ensure the City can continue to fund all
operating and maintenance costs, but also verifies that any cost associated with
these utilities are defensible and comply with Proposition 218 requirements. On July
16, 2024, the City Council awarded a Professional Services Agreement to Raftelis to
complete a Cost Study and recommend new five-year water and sewer rate
adjustments for calendar years 2026 through 2030.
The Cost Study completed by Raftelis was conducted using industry-standard
principles outlined by the American Water Works Association (“AWWA”). The process
and approach Raftelis utilized in the study to determine water and sewer rates aligns
with the City’s policy objectives, the current water and sewer systems and rates, and
the legal requirements in California, namely, Proposition 218.
DISCUSSION
The 2025 Cost Study relies on the City’s financial and rate models, which were
developed for the City by Raftelis. These models include actual revenues and
operational expenditures, capital improvement costs, and customer usage data,
along with additional items that were necessary to develop financial projections for
Fiscal Years 2025-26 through 2029-30. The following goals were identified for the
Cost Study:
• Meet the City’s water and wastewater enterprise fiscal needs for operation and
maintenance costs, capital replacement and refurbishment (“R&R”) costs to
maintain the system, reserve goals, and to improve the financial health of each
enterprise; and
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 3 of 14
Effective Date
Revenue
Adjustment
Jan 1, 2026 12.0%
Jan 1, 2027 12.0%
Jan 1, 2028 10.0%
Jan 1, 2029 6.0%
Jan 1, 2030 6.0%
• Prepare a five-year schedule of water and sewer rates consistent with the cost
of providing service.
Water Rates
Operations and maintenance expenditures comprise most of the expenses within
the Water Budget, with the single largest line item being water supply costs. The Cost
Study financial model was used to forecast water sales and expenditures. Included
in the financial model is the cost of current and future water supplies, as well as the
rising cost of replacement water and system operation costs. Raftelis, with the
assistance of City staff, conducted a status quo cash flow analysis to evaluate
whether existing water rates can adequately fund the City’s various water-related
expenses over the study period (Fiscal Years 2026 through 2034). The analysis
projected annual revenues, operation and maintenance expenses, and capital
expenditures, through Fiscal Years 2026 through 2034. The study indicates that with
no rate increases over the study period, the City will fully deplete its reserves in 2028.
As such, revenue adjustments were developed over the five-year rate-setting period
to make sure the Water Operating Fund has sufficient funds to cover annual
expenses and to build reserves to target levels by the end of the rate-setting period,
in the Year 2030. As shown in Table 1, the Cost Study recommends that the City
increase water revenues by 12% for Calendar Years 2026 and 2027; 10% for Calendar
Year 2028; and 6% for Calendar Years 2029 and 2030, to fund expected operations,
maintenance, and CIP expenditures, and maintain a sufficient Reserve Fund balance.
Table 1: Proposed Water Revenue Adjustments
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 4 of 14
The operating reserve target is 25% of annual operating revenue. The rate
stabilization target is 10% of the volume revenue. The capital reserve target is the 5-
year average of cash-funded capital. The City is also starting a Regulatory Reserve,
with the aim to have it reach about $4 million in Fiscal Year 2030 to cover potential
water treatment projects.
The City’s current water rate schedule consists of a bi-monthly service charge, a
tiered volumetric rate for single family customers (tier blocks change based on meter
size and season), a volumetric rate for multifamily with tiers per dwelling unit, and
uniform rates for commercial and other non-residential customers. The current
water rates also include a private fire service bi-monthly charge for those customers
with a dedicated fire service line. The City plans to switch to monthly water billing. As
part of this change, a monthly service charge was developed. Additionally, a
simplified rate structure for the single-family customer class was created.
The Proposed 2026 calendar year rates were calculated based on the results of the
cost-of-service analysis. Overall, calendar year 2026 rates are designed to collect 12%
more revenue than current rates. Beginning in calendar year 2027, proposed rates
are calculated by increasing the prior year's rates by the proposed annual revenue
adjustments. Table 2 shows the proposed five-year water rate schedule through the
year 2030, including the monthly service charge and the private fire line charge.
Table 2: Proposed Five-Year Water Rate Schedule, Monthly Service Charge and
Private Fireline Charge
Monthly Service Charge 12.0% 10.0% 6.0% 6.0%
Meter Size 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
5/8" $21.31 $23.87 $26.26 $27.84 $29.52
3/4" $21.31 $23.87 $26.26 $27.84 $29.52
1" $26.54 $29.73 $32.71 $34.68 $36.77
1-1/2" $39.61 $44.37 $48.81 $51.74 $54.85
2" $55.30 $61.94 $68.14 $72.23 $76.57
3" $91.91 $102.94 $113.24 $120.04 $127.25
4" $144.21 $161.52 $177.68 $188.35 $199.66
6" $274.96 $307.96 $338.76 $359.09 $380.64
8" $431.86 $483.69 $532.06 $563.99 $597.83
10" $641.06 $717.99 $789.79 $837.18 $887.42
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 5 of 14
Monthly Private Fire Line Charge
Line Size 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
5/8" $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
3/4" $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
1" $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
1-1/2" $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
2" $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
3" $16.66 $18.66 $20.53 $21.77 $23.08
4" $32.45 $36.35 $39.99 $42.39 $44.94
6" $89.13 $99.83 $109.82 $116.41 $123.40
8" $186.89 $209.32 $230.26 $244.08 $258.73
10" $333.93 $374.01 $411.42 $436.11 $462.28
As shown in Table 3 below, residential rates are tiered, and non-residential rates are
uniform. The residential rate tiers have been condensed from four to three, the tier
breakpoints are the same for all meter sizes, and the seasonal change has been
eliminated. This will provide better clarity and equality among water customers. The
multifamily customer class will continue to have a two-tier rate, but the usage in the
first tier is now based on up to 6 dwelling units, instead of up to 12 dwelling units.
The other customer classes will continue to have uniform rates.
The first single-family residential tier provides basic indoor use; the second tier
provides the average summer use in the maximum use month of the year. Multi-
family tiers are similarly set to provide basic indoor use in Tier 1 and the remaining
in Tier 2.
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 6 of 14
Table 3: Proposed Five-Year Water Volumetric Rate Schedule
Customer 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Residential
Tier 1: 0-8 $2.61 $2.93 $3.23 $3.43 $3.64
Tier 2: 9-26 $3.03 $3.40 $3.74 $3.97 $4.21
Tier 3: >26 $3.53 $3.96 $4.36 $4.63 $4.91
Multifamily
6 hcf/du $2.59 $2.91 $3.21 $3.41 $3.62
> 6 hcf/du $2.93 $3.29 $3.62 $3.84 $4.08
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
All $3.18 $3.57 $3.93 $4.17 $4.43
Commercial
All $2.75 $3.08 $3.39 $3.60 $3.82
The proposed water rate adjustments will help ensure adequate revenue to fund
operating expenses, capital expenditures, and meet reserve targets.
Sewer Rates
Raftelis conducted a status quo cash flow analysis to evaluate whether existing sewer
rates can adequately fund the City’s collection-system expenses. The analysis
projected annual revenues, operation and maintenance expenses, debt service
payments, and capital expenditures. Raftelis projects that with no rate increases over
the study period, the City will fully deplete its sewer reserves in the year 2032. As
shown on Table 4, the Cost study proposes a six percent (6%) annual revenue
adjustment over the five-year rate-setting period, to ensure the Sewer Operating
Fund has sufficient funds to cover annual expenses and to maintain reserve levels
throughout the study period.
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 7 of 14
Table 4: Proposed Sewer Revenue Adjustments
The current sewer rate structure consists of a per dwelling unit (“DU”), bi-monthly
cost for residential customers, and a separate per DU bi-monthly cost for non-
residential customers. Additionally, a volumetric rate is applied to all non-residential
customers. The proposed sewer rates will also go from bi-monthly to monthly and
will now include a per account (per dwelling unit for multi-family) charge for all
customers, plus a volumetric charge for non-residential customers. Table 5 shows
the proposed five-year schedule of sewer rates. Rates for calendar year 2026 reflect
the cost-of-service analysis. Rates for calendar year 2027 and beyond equal the prior
year rates multiplied by the proposed six percent (6%) revenue adjustment.
Table 5: Proposed Five-Year Sewer Rate Schedule
Customer Class 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
Residential
Single Family, $/m $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Multi-Family Dwelling Units,$/m $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Residential Sewer Only, $/m $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Non-Residential Commercial, $/m $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Government, $/m $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
City Accounts, $/m $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Volumetric, $/hcf $0.67 $0.72 $0.77 $0.82 $0.87
Drought Rates
As part of the Cost Study, a demand reduction surcharge (“drought surcharge”) was
also identified to recover revenue shortfalls that occur during demand reduction
water shortages. The Drought Surcharge, as shown in Table 6, may be imposed
during times of declared drought, when certain levels of reduction from the base
Effective Date Adjustment
Jan. 1, 2026 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2027 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2028 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2029 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2030 6.0%
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 8 of 14
$53.88 $54.31
$69.27 $76.76 $76.94
$90.60 $94.07 $94.77
$111.56
$124.47
$-
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
$140.00
SFR Monthly Water Bill Comparison
usage have been mandated. A drought surcharge is charged on each unit of water
used and is calculated to recover costs resulting from a loss of volumetric revenue,
due to reduced water use. The amount of the drought surcharge at different levels
of usage reduction is based upon the City’s projected revenue shortfall, adjusted for
changes in costs.
Table 6: Drought Surcharge
The City Council shall maintain discretion to implement drought rates.
Neighboring Comparisons
Even with the proposed rate adjustments, Arcadia's water and sewer rates are
among the lowest in the area. Table 7 shows a comparison of a water bill for a typical
single-family customer (12hcf/mo) on a 3/4” meter with the City’s proposed 2026
rates and the current rates for neighboring agencies.
Table 7: Neighboring Comparison – Water, Single Family, 3/4” Meter, 12hcf
Drought Stage 1 2 3 4 5
Drought Reduction in Use Up to 10% Up to 20% Up to 30% Up to 40% Up to 50%
% Incr. on Monthly Volumetric Rates 0% 4% 10% 11% 18%
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 9 of 14
$59.54 $62.90
$81.18 $88.33
$96.69 $100.96
$109.00 $111.40
$129.68
$145.75
$0.00
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
$140.00
$160.00
Arcadia
(Proposed)
Azusa Alhambra Monrovia El Monte Monterey
Park
Covina Sierra
Madre
Pasadena Glendora
(Zone A)
Commmercial Water Bill Comparison
Table 8 shows a comparison of a water bill for a typical commercial customer
(12hcf/mo) on a 1” meter with the City’s proposed calendar year 2026 rates and the
current rates for neighboring agencies.
Table 8: Neighboring Comparison – Water, Commercial, 1” Meter, 12hcf
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 10 of 14
Table 9 shows a comparison of a sewer bill for a typical single-family customer
(12hcf/mo) on a 3/4” meter with the City’s proposed calendar year 2026 rates and the
current rates for neighboring agencies.
Table 9: Neighborhood Comparison – Sewer Single-Family
$9.05 $9.77
$14.96 $16.15 $17.16
$22.36 $22.46 $22.97
$0.00
$5.00
$10.00
$15.00
$20.00
$25.00
Arcadia
(Proposed)
El Monte Monrovia Pasadena Azusa Sierra
Madre
Monterey
Park
Alhambra
SFR Monthly Sewer Bill Comparison
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 11 of 14
Table 10 shows a comparison of a sewer bill for a typical commercial customer
(12hcf/mo) on a 1” meter with the City’s proposed Calendar Year 2026 rates and the
current rates for neighboring agencies.
Table 10: Neighborhood Comparison – Commercial
Water Service Discounts
To assist single-family residential low-income customers, seniors, and veterans, the
City will implement new Water Service Discounts. Customers can apply to participate
in one of the following discount programs:
Low Income - For single-family residential customers with household income
at or below 50% of the Los Angeles County Area Median Income Level (AMI),
up to three units of water each month will be provided at no cost, and the
customer will receive a full exemption from the City’s Utility User’s Tax.
Senior Low Income – For customers that are 62 years of age or older and
whose household income is at or below 50% of the Los Angeles County Area
Median Income Level (“AMI”), a 10% discount will be applied to water
$14.85 $17.09
$20.94 $24.43 $26.94 $27.14 $28.90
$65.23
$-
$10.00
$20.00
$30.00
$40.00
$50.00
$60.00
$70.00
El Monte Arcadia
(Proposed)
Azusa Pasadena Sierra
Madre
Alhambra Monrovia Monterey
Park
Commercial Monthly Wastewater Bill, 12 hcf
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 12 of 14
consumption usage and meter service charges, and the customer will receive
full exemption from the City’s Utility User’s Tax.
Senior - For customers that are 62 years of age or older, a 10% discount will
be applied to water consumption usage and meter service charges.
Veterans - For customers that served in a branch of the US Armed Forces, a
10% discount will be applied to water consumption usage and meter service
charges.
Implementation of New Rates
In accordance with Proposition 218, the City must engage in a proper voter approval
process when increasing rates for the “property-related” service of water delivery.
These requirements include mailing a written notice detailing the proposed rate
increases to all property owners and tenants who are responsible for paying the
utility bill. At least 45 days before the proposed December 2, 2025, Public Hearing,
the PWSD will mail a notice to all water and sewer customers detailing the proposed
water and sewer rate increases, in accordance with Proposition 218 requirements.
The notice will be approved through the City Attorney’s Office to ensure that the City
is following Proposition 218 regulations. Following the closure of the Public Hearing,
if there is no majority protest, the City Council can choose to vote on the proposed
new water and sewer rate adjustment. The new water and sewer rates will become
effective for all billings sent after January 1, 2026.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
The Cost Study does not constitute a project under the California Environmental
Quality Act (“CEQA”) under Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, as it can be
seen with certainty that it will have no impact on the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
The proposed water and sewer revenue adjustments were selected to make sure the
Water and Sewer Fund have sufficient funds to cover annual expenses, and to build
reserves to target levels by the end of the rate-setting period. Table 11, the Proposed
Water Financial Plan shows the proposed five-year water enterprise financial plan.
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 13 of 14
Status quo revenue is shown by the solid line. Projected revenue is shown by the
dashed line. Annual expenditures are shown by the columns. The green bars above
the X-axis show the net cash used to build up the reserves and the bars below the X-
axis show the withdrawals from reserves to fund costs. Revenue adjustments are
required to generate sufficient revenue to cover annual operating and maintenance
costs as well as capital projects. At the conclusion of the five-year rate period, the
Water Fund will have sufficient reserve funding to meet recommended target levels.
Table 11: Proposed Water Financial Plan
Table 12 below, Proposed Sewer Financial Plan compares existing (solid line) and
proposed revenues (dashed line) with projected expenses (stacked columns). The
expenses include operations and maintenance, capital, debt service, and reserve
funding. The green bars above the X-axis show the net cash used to build up the
reserves, and the bars below the X-axis show the withdrawals from reserves to fund
costs. Projected revenue from existing rates, if continued unchanged, would not
meet future projected total expenses and illustrate the need for revenue
adjustments to maintain operations, accomplish the desired capital plan, and to
meet reserve targets.
($10)
($5)
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Financial Plan
Water Supply Costs O&M Expenses Capital Projects
Debt Service Reserve Funding Current Revenues
Proposed Revenues
Accept Water and Sewer Cost of Service Study Update
and Set Prop 218 Public Hearing
October 7, 2025
Page 14 of 14
Table 12: Proposed Sewer Financial Plan
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council determine that this item is exempt under the
California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”); and accept the completed Water and
Sewer Rate Cost of Service Study Update, direct the Public Works Services
Department to follow Proposition 218 balloting procedures to establish water and
sewer rates, and conduct a Public Hearing at the December 2, 2025, City Council
meeting.
Attachment: Water and Sewer Rate Cost of Service Study Update
($2.0)
($1.0)
$0.0
$1.0
$2.0
$3.0
$4.0
$5.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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s
Financial Plan
O&M Expenses Capital Projects Debt Service
Reserve Funding Current Revenues Proposed Revenues
CITY OF ARCADIA
Water and Wastewater
Rate Study
FINAL REPORT / September 23, 2025
611 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90017
www.raftelis.com
September 23, 2025
Mr. Paul Cranmer
Director of Public Works
City of Arcadia
240 West Huntington Drive
Arcadia, CA 91066
Subject: Water and Wastewater Rate Study Report – FINAL
Dear Mr. Cranmer:
Raftelis is pleased to provide this Water and Wastewater Rate Study report for the City of Arcadia (City) to
develop a financial plan to help the City meet its annual expenses and build reserves in light of potential
regulations, as well as to establish water and wastewater rates that are equitable consistent with the cost of
providing service.
The major objectives of the study include the following:
Develop a financial plan for the water and wastewater enterprises to ensure financial sufficiency, meet
operation and maintenance costs, ensure sufficient funding for capital replacement and refurbishment
(R&R) needs, and improve the financial health of the enterprises
Develop sound and sufficient reserve fund targets and reserves
Review the current rate structures for the water and wastewater enterprises and recommend
improvements as necessary
Prepare a five-year schedule of water and wastewater rates
The report summarizes the key findings and recommendations related to the development of the financial
plans for the water and wastewater enterprises and the development of the updated water rates and
wastewater rates.
It has been a pleasure working with you, and we thank you, Ms. Carmen and the City staff for the support
provided during the course of this study.
Sincerely,
Sudhir Pardiwala, PE (CA) John Wright, CPA (CO) Theresa Jurotich, PE (KS, WA), PMP
Senior Principal Senior Manager Manager
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL i
Contents
1. Executive Summary ..................................................................... 1
1.1. Background ...................................................................................................................1
1.2. Process ..........................................................................................................................1
1.3. Proposed Water Financial Plan ....................................................................................2
1.4. Proposed Water Rates ..................................................................................................4
1.5. Proposed Wastewater Financial Plan ..........................................................................8
1.6. Proposed Wastewater Rates ...................................................................................... 10
2. Rate Setting Methodology.......................................................... 13
3. Key Inputs and Assumptions ..................................................... 15
3.1. Current Water Rates ................................................................................................... 15
3.2. Current Wastewater Rates .......................................................................................... 16
3.3. Projected Service Connections ................................................................................. 16
3.3.1. Water......................................................................................................................... 16
3.3.2. Wastewater ............................................................................................................... 17
3.4. Water Use Assumptions ............................................................................................. 17
3.5. Wastewater Flow Assumptions ................................................................................. 18
3.6. Water and Wastewater Financial Plan Assumptions ............................................... 18
4. Water Financial Plan .................................................................. 19
4.1. Current Rate Revenue ................................................................................................ 19
4.1.1. Calculated Water Rate Revenues .............................................................................. 19
4.1.2. Other Revenues ........................................................................................................ 20
4.2. Annual Expenses ........................................................................................................ 21
4.2.1. Total Operations and Maintenance Budget ................................................................ 21
4.2.2. Capital Improvement Plan ......................................................................................... 23
4.2.3. Existing and Proposed Debt Service ......................................................................... 23
4.3. Reserve Targets .......................................................................................................... 23
4.4. Proposed Financial Plan and Revenue Adjustments ............................................... 24
5. Water Cost-of-Service Analysis .................................................. 28
5.1. Revenue Requirement Determination ....................................................................... 28
5.2. Functionalization of Net Revenue Requirement ....................................................... 29
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL ii
5.3. Allocation of Functionalized Net Revenue Requirements to Cost Components ... 30
5.3.1. System Peaking Factors ............................................................................................ 30
5.3.2. Operating and Capital Allocation ............................................................................... 31
5.4. Derivation of Units of Service .................................................................................... 32
5.4.1. Equivalent Meters ...................................................................................................... 32
5.4.2. Fire Protection Capacity ............................................................................................ 33
5.4.3. Unit Costs of Service ................................................................................................. 34
6. Proposed Water Rates and Charges .......................................... 39
6.1. Proposed Rate Structure Change .............................................................................. 39
6.2. Proposed Monthly Service Charge ............................................................................ 39
6.3. Commodity Rates ........................................................................................................ 40
6.3.1. Supply Unit Cost ........................................................................................................ 41
6.3.2. Base-Delivery Unit Cost ............................................................................................ 41
6.3.3. Peaking Unit Cost ...................................................................................................... 41
6.3.4. Derivation of Proposed FY 2026 Volumetric Charge Rates ....................................... 42
6.4. Proposed 5-Year Water Rate Schedule ..................................................................... 43
6.5. Largest 10% of Users .................................................................................................. 44
7. Drought Rates ............................................................................ 45
8. Wastewater Financial Plan ........................................................ 47
8.1. Current Rate Revenue ................................................................................................ 47
8.1.1. Calculated Wastewater Rate Revenues .................................................................... 47
8.1.2. Other Revenues ........................................................................................................ 48
8.2. Annual Expenses - Wastewater ................................................................................. 48
8.2.1. Total Operations and Maintenance Budget ................................................................ 48
8.2.2. Capital Improvement Plan ......................................................................................... 49
8.2.3. Existing and Proposed Debt Service ......................................................................... 49
8.3. Reserve Targets .......................................................................................................... 49
8.4. Proposed Financial Plan and Revenue Adjustments ............................................... 49
9. Wastewater Cost-of-Service Analysis ........................................ 53
9.1. Revenue Requirement Determination ....................................................................... 53
9.2. Functionalization of Net Revenue Requirement ....................................................... 54
9.3. Allocation of Functionalized Net Revenue Requirements to Cost Components ... 54
9.4. Derivation of Units of Service .................................................................................... 55
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL iii
9.4.1. Unit Costs of Service ................................................................................................. 55
10. Wastewater Rates ................................................................ 56
10.1. Wastewater Test Year Rate Derivation ...................................................................... 56
10.2. Proposed 5-Year Wastewater Rate Schedule ........................................................... 57
11. Customer Impact Analysis & Neighboring Agency
Comparison ................................................................................ 58
11.1. Typical Bill Comparison ............................................................................................. 58
11.1.1. Water......................................................................................................................... 58
11.1.2. Wastewater ............................................................................................................... 59
11.2. Neighboring Comparison ........................................................................................... 59
11.2.1. Water......................................................................................................................... 59
11.2.2. Wastewater ............................................................................................................... 60
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL iv
Tables
Table 1-1: Proposed Water Revenue Adjustments ................................................................................... 2
Table 1-2: Proposed Five-Year Water Rate Schedule, Monthly Service Charge &
Private Fireline Charge ............................................................................................................................ 5
Table 1-3: Proposed Five-Year Water Volumetric Rate Schedule, $/hcf .................................................. 6
Table 1-4: Proposed Wastewater Revenue Adjustments ......................................................................... 8
Table 1-5: Proposed Five-Year Wastewater Rate Schedule .................................................................. 10
Table 1-6: Monthly Example Bills, FY 2026 vs Current .......................................................................... 11
Table 3-1: Current Water Rate Structure ................................................................................................ 15
Table 3-2: Current Bi-monthly Wastewater Rates .................................................................................. 16
Table 3-3: Projected Number of Water Meters ....................................................................................... 16
Table 3-4: Projected Number of Private Fire Service Lines .................................................................... 17
Table 3-5: Projected Wastewater Accounts or Dwelling Units ................................................................ 17
Table 3-6: Water Use Assumptions, hcf ................................................................................................. 17
Table 3-7: Projected Wastewater Flows for Customers Billed on Flow, hcf ............................................ 18
Table 3-8: Inflationary Assumptions ....................................................................................................... 18
Table 4-1: Projected Fixed Charge Revenues Under Current Rates ...................................................... 20
Table 4-2: Projected Volume Charge Revenue Under Current Rates..................................................... 20
Table 4-3: Projected Other Water Enterprise Revenues (Status Quo) .................................................... 21
Table 4-4: Summary of Projected Purchased Water Cost Expenses ...................................................... 22
Table 4-5: Summary of Projected Water Operations and Maintenance Expenses.................................. 22
Table 4-6: Projected Capital Improvement Projects ............................................................................... 23
Table 4-7: Proposed Revenue Adjustments ........................................................................................... 24
Table 4-8: Water Operating Cashflow .................................................................................................... 25
Table 4-9: Capital Fund Cashflow .......................................................................................................... 26
Table 5-1: Revenue Requirement Determination, FY 2026 .................................................................... 29
Table 5-2: Functionalization of Net Revenue Requirements ................................................................... 29
Table 5-3: Water System Peaking Factors ............................................................................................. 31
Table 5-4: Allocation of Functions to Cost Components ......................................................................... 31
Table 5-5: Allocation of Operation & Maintenance to Cost Components ................................................ 31
Table 5-6: Allocation of Asset Value to Cost Components ..................................................................... 32
Table 5-7: Net Revenue Requirement .................................................................................................... 32
Table 5-8: Equivalent Meters ................................................................................................................. 33
Table 5-9: Equivalent Fire Connections ................................................................................................. 34
Table 5-10: Fire Service Share of Peaking Requirements ...................................................................... 34
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL v
Table 5-11: Proposed Single Family Tier Definitions .............................................................................. 35
Table 5-12: Calculation of Max Day Factor ............................................................................................ 35
Table 5-13: Units of Service ................................................................................................................... 36
Table 5-14: Total Adjusted Cost-of-Service ............................................................................................ 37
Table 5-15: Unit Costs of Service ........................................................................................................... 38
Table 6-1: Monthly Service Charge Derivation ....................................................................................... 40
Table 6-2: Monthly Private Fire Line Charge Derivation ......................................................................... 40
Table 6-3: Derivation of Peaking Unit Costs ........................................................................................... 42
Table 6-4: Derivation of FY 2026 Volumetric Charge Rates ($/hcf) ........................................................ 42
Table 6-5: Proposed 5-Year Fixed Water Charges Schedule, $/mo. ...................................................... 43
Table 6-6: Proposed 5-Year Volumetric Water Rate Schedule, $/hcf ..................................................... 44
Table 7-1: Project Water Demand by Percent Usage Reduction ............................................................ 45
Table 7-2: Estimated Cost Savings by Percent Usage Reduction .......................................................... 46
Table 7-3: Drought Surcharge by Percent Usage Reduction .................................................................. 46
Table 8-1: Projected Fixed Charge Revenues Under Current Wastewater Rates................................... 47
Table 8-2: Projected Volume Charge Revenue Under Current Wastewater Rates ................................. 48
Table 8-3: Projected Other Wastewater Enterprise Revenues, Status Quo ............................................ 48
Table 8-4: Summary of Projected Wastewater Operations and Maintenance Expenses ........................ 48
Table 8-5: Projected Wastewater Capital Improvement Projects ............................................................ 49
Table 8-6: Existing Annual Debt Service ................................................................................................ 49
Table 8-7: Proposed Revenue Adjustments ........................................................................................... 50
Table 8-8: Wastewater Cashflow ........................................................................................................... 50
Table 9-1: Revenue Requirement Determination ................................................................................... 53
Table 9-2: Functionalization of Asset Database ..................................................................................... 54
Table 9-3: Functionalization of O&M Expenses ...................................................................................... 54
Table 9-4: Allocation of Net Revenue Requirements to Cost Components ............................................. 54
Table 9-5: Units of Service, Test Year .................................................................................................... 55
Table 9-6: Total Wastewater Unit Cost of Service .................................................................................. 55
Table 10-1: Revenue Requirements Allocated to Customer Classes ..................................................... 56
Table 10-2: Derivation of Monthly Charge .............................................................................................. 56
Table 10-3: Derivation of Volumetric Charge .......................................................................................... 56
Table 10-4: Proposed 5-Year Wastewater Rate Schedule ..................................................................... 57
Table 11-1: Monthly Example Bills, FY 2026 vs Current......................................................................... 59
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL vi
Figures
Figure 1-1: Proposed Water Financial Plan .............................................................................................. 3
Figure 1-2: Proposed Water Financial Plan – Projected Ending Balances ............................................... 3
Figure 1-3: Water Capital Financing Plan ................................................................................................. 4
Figure 1-4: Single Family Residential Monthly Bills, FY 2026 ................................................................... 6
Figure 1-5: Commercial Monthly Bills, FY 2026 ....................................................................................... 7
Figure 1-6: Neighborhood Comparison – Monthly Water, Single Family, 3/4" Meter, 12 hcf ..................... 7
Figure 1-7: Neighborhood Comparison – Monthly Water, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf .......................... 8
Figure 1-8: Proposed Wastewater Financial Plan..................................................................................... 9
Figure 1-9: Wastewater Capital Financing Plan ....................................................................................... 9
Figure 1-10: Projected Wastewater Fund Ending Balance ..................................................................... 10
Figure 1-11: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Single Family ................................................... 11
Figure 1-12: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf .......................... 12
Figure 4-1: Proposed Financial Plan ...................................................................................................... 26
Figure 4-2: Projected Capital Plan and Funding Sources ....................................................................... 27
Figure 4-3: Projected Operating Fund Ending Balance .......................................................................... 27
Figure 8-1: Proposed Wastewater Financial Plan................................................................................... 51
Figure 8-2: Projected Wastewater Capital Plan and Funding Sources ................................................... 52
Figure 8-3: Projected Wastewater Fund Ending Balance ....................................................................... 52
Figure 11-1: Single Family Residential Monthly Bills, FY 2026 ............................................................... 58
Figure 11-2: Commercial Monthly Bills, FY 2026 ................................................................................... 59
Figure 11-3: Neighborhood Comparison – Water, Single Family, 3/4" Meter, 12 hcf .............................. 60
Figure 11-4: Neighborhood Comparison – Water, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf ................................... 60
Figure 11-5: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Single Family ................................................... 61
Figure 11-6: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf .......................... 61
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL
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City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 1
1. Executive Summary
1.1. Background
In 2024 the City of Arcadia (City) contracted with Raftelis Financial Consultants (Raftelis) to conduct a Water
and Wastewater Rate Study to develop ten-year financial plans, conduct cost-of-service analyses, and develop
schedules of water and wastewater rates. This report presents the financial plans, the cost-of-service analyses,
and the resulting water and wastewater rates.
This Executive Summary describes the rate study process, methodology, and recommendations for the City’s
water and wastewater rates. The City wishes to establish fair and equitable rates that:
Meet the City’s water and wastewater enterprise fiscal needs for operation and maintenance costs,
capital replacement and refurbishment (R&R) costs to maintain the system, reserve goals, and to
improve the financial health of each enterprise, and
Prepare a five-year schedule of water and wastewater rates consistent with cost of providing service.
The City’s water enterprise serves the City of Arcadia. The enterprise provides potable water service to a
population of over 56,000 customers in the City through almost 15,000 connections. On an annual basis, the
City delivers over 13,000 acre-feet (AF) of potable water. The City also provides wastewater conveyance to its
customers including a few hundred sewer-only customers. Wastewater is treated by Los Angeles County
Sanitation District, which bills customers directly for its services.
1.2. Process
Raftelis developed water and wastewater financial plans for the City. The financial plans set forth the total
revenue adjustments needed to meet capital investment, operational expenses, debt service, and build reserves
during the five-year rate-setting period. Raftelis worked with City staff to refine inputs and reserve targets. After
developing the financial plans, Raftelis performed cost-of-service analyses to determine the water and
wastewater rates based on the selected financial plan.
The current water rate consists of a bi-monthly service charge, a tiered volumetric rate for single family
customers where the tier blocks change based on meter size and season, a tiered volumetric rate for multifamily
with tiers per dwelling unit, and uniform rates for commercial, and other non-residential customers. The bi-
monthly service charge is designed to primarily collect costs that are relatively fixed, including such things as
billing and customer service costs, meter reading, and meter maintenance. The volumetric rate recovers the
remaining costs. The City also charges a private fire service bi-monthly charge for those customers with a
dedicated fire service line.
Based on discussions with City Staff, Raftelis has developed an alternative rate structure. The City plans to
implement monthly billing starting in January 2026. Therefore, Raftelis has developed a monthly service
charge. Additionally, Raftelis has developed a simplified rate structure for the single-family customers. The tiers
have been condensed from four to three, the tier breakpoints are the same for all meter sizes, and the seasonal
change has been eliminated. The multifamily customer class will continue to have a two-tier rate, but the usage
in the first tier is now based on up to 6 dwelling units instead of up to 12 dwelling units. The other customer
classes will continue to have uniform rates.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 2
The current wastewater rate structure consists of a per dwelling unit (DU), bi-monthly cost for residential
customers, and a separate per DU bi-monthly cost for non-residential customers. Additionally, a volumetric
rate is applied to all non-residential customers. The proposed wastewater rate consists of a monthly, per account
(per dwelling unit for multi-family) charge for all customers plus a volumetric charge for non-residential
customers.
1.3. Proposed Water Financial Plan
Raftelis, with the assistance of City staff, conducted a status quo cash flow analysis to evaluate whether existing
water rates can adequately fund the City’s various water-related expenses over the study period (FY 2026 –
FY 2034). The analysis projected annual revenues, operation and maintenance expenses, debt service
payments, and capital expenditures through FY 2034. Raftelis projects that with no rate increases over the study
period, the City will fully deplete its reserves in FY 2028 and will not meet debt coverage in FY 2027. Raftelis
worked with City staff to develop the following proposed revenue adjustments over the five-year rate-setting
period (see Table 1-1). The proposed water revenue adjustments were selected to make sure the water operating
fund has sufficient funds to cover annual expenses and to build reserves to target levels by the end of the rate-
setting period, FY 2030. The operating reserve target is 25 percent of annual operating revenue. The rate
stabilization target is 10 percent of the volume revenue. The capital reserve target is the 5-year average of cash-
funded capital. The City is also starting a regulatory reserve with the aim to have it reach about $4 million in
FY 2030 to cover potential PFAS/PFOS treatment projects.
Table 1-1: Proposed Water Revenue Adjustments
Figure 1-1 shows the proposed five-year water enterprise financial plan. status quo revenue is shown by the
solid line. Projected revenue is shown by the dashed line. Annual expenditures are shown by the columns. The
green bars above the X-axis show the net cash used to build up the reserves and the bars below the X-axis show
the withdrawals from reserves to fund costs. Current rates are neither sufficient to cover annual operating and
maintenance expenses nor capital-related expenditures. Therefore, revenue adjustments are required to generate
sufficient revenue to cover annual operating and maintenance costs as well as cash-funded capital projects over
the study period.
Effective Date Adjustment
January, 2026 12.0%
January, 2027 12.0%
January, 2028 10.0%
January, 2029 6.0%
January, 2030 6.0%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 3
Figure 1-1: Proposed Water Financial Plan
Figure 1-2 shows projected operating and capital ending balances over the study period relative to the City’s
total reserve targets under the proposed financial plan. Reserves are slowly increased each year initially meeting
the operating reserve and eventually meeting all reserve targets.
Figure 1-2: Proposed Water Financial Plan – Projected Ending Balances
($10)
($5)
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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Financial Plan
Water Supply Costs O&M Expenses Capital Projects
Debt Service Reserve Funding Current Revenues
Proposed Revenues
$5.5 $5.7
$7.9
$11.6
$14.4
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$14
$16
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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Combined Ending Balance
Ending Balance Operating Target
Op + Cap Target Op + Cap + Rate Stab Target
Oper. + Cap. + Rate Stbl. + Regulatory
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 4
Figure 1-3 shows the proposed capital financing plan over the rate-setting period. The proposed financial plan
assumes that all capital projects over the study period will be cash funded through rate revenue and through
settlement funds from environmental litigation.
Figure 1-3: Water Capital Financing Plan
1.4. Proposed Water Rates
Table 1-2 shows the proposed five-year water rate schedule through FY 2030 for the monthly service charge
and private fire line charge. Proposed FY 2026 rates are calculated based on the results of the cost-of-service
analysis. Overall, FY 2026 rates are designed to collect about 12 percent more rate revenue than current
FY 2025 rates in accordance with the proposed FY 2026 revenue adjustment. Proposed rates beginning in
FY 2027 are calculated by increasing the prior year's proposed rates by the proposed annual revenue
adjustments. Note the rates reflect a change from bi-monthly billing to monthly billing in January 2026. All
numbers are rounded up to the nearest cent to ensure adequate revenue recovery. Therefore, any manual
reproduction of the calculations shown may not match the precise results displayed in the report
$8.8
$1.8 $1.9 $1.6
$2.9
$0
$1
$2
$3
$4
$5
$6
$7
$8
$9
$10
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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Capital Financing Plan
Rate Funded Settlement Funded
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 5
Table 1-2: Proposed Five-Year Water Rate Schedule, Monthly Service Charge & Private Fireline
Charge
Table 1-3 shows the proposed water volumetric rates. Residential rates are tiered, and non-residential rates are
uniform. The proposed single family residential (SFR) rate is three-tiered instead of the current four-tiered
structure and does not vary with season. The first SFR tier provides basic indoor use, the second tier provides
the average summer use in the maximum use month of the year. Multi-family tiers are similarly set to provide
basic indoor use in Tier 1 and the remaining in Tier 2.
Current FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Effective Date Jan 1, 2026 Jan 1, 2027 Jan 1, 2028 Jan 1, 2029 Jan 1, 2030
Revenue Adjustment 12.0%10.0%6.0%6.0%
Monthly Fixed Charge, $/mo
Meter Size
5/8"$19.90 $21.31 $23.87 $26.26 $27.84 $29.52
3/4"$21.26 $21.31 $23.87 $26.26 $27.84 $29.52
1"$23.98 $26.54 $29.73 $32.71 $34.68 $36.77
1-1/2"$30.78 $39.61 $44.37 $48.81 $51.74 $54.85
2"$38.94 $55.30 $61.94 $68.14 $72.23 $76.57
3"$57.98 $91.91 $102.94 $113.24 $120.04 $127.25
4"$85.19 $144.21 $161.52 $177.68 $188.35 $199.66
6"$166.80 $274.96 $307.96 $338.76 $359.09 $380.64
8"$262.01 $431.86 $483.69 $532.06 $563.99 $597.83
10"$398.04 $641.06 $717.99 $789.79 $837.18 $887.42
Monthly Private Fireline Charge, $/mo
Fireline Size
5/8"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
3/4"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
1"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
1-1/2"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
2"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
3"$0.00 $16.66 $18.66 $20.53 $21.77 $23.08
4"$11.55 $32.45 $36.35 $39.99 $42.39 $44.94
6"$17.32 $89.13 $99.83 $109.82 $116.41 $123.40
8"$23.09 $186.89 $209.32 $230.26 $244.08 $258.73
10"$28.88 $333.93 $374.01 $411.42 $436.11 $462.28
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 6
Table 1-3: Proposed Five-Year Water Volumetric Rate Schedule, $/hcf
Figure 1-4 shows a comparison of a ¾” single-family bill at different usage levels for the proposed FY 2026
rates versus the current rates. Note that the current bill is an average of a summer and winter bill at the usage
shown on a monthly basis.
Figure 1-4: Single Family Residential Monthly Bills, FY 2026
Figure 1-5 shows a comparison of a 1” commercial bill at different usage levels for the proposed FY 2026
rates versus the current rates on a monthly basis.
Current Proposed FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Effective Date Jan 1, 2026 Jan 1, 2027 Jan 1, 2028 Jan 1, 2029 Jan 1, 2030
Revenue Adjustment 12.0%10.0%6.0%6.0%
Residential
Tier 1 $2.39 Tier 1: 0-8 $2.61 $2.93 $3.23 $3.43 $3.64
Tier 2 $2.98 Tier 2: 9-26 $3.03 $3.40 $3.74 $3.97 $4.21
Tier 3 $3.07 Tier 3: >26 $3.53 $3.96 $4.36 $4.63 $4.91
Tier 4 $3.83
MultiFamily
12 hcf/du $2.18 6 hcf/du/mo $2.59 $2.91 $3.21 $3.41 $3.62
> 12 hcf/du $2.43 > 6 hcf/du/mo $2.93 $3.29 $3.62 $3.84 $4.08
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
All $2.83 All $3.18 $3.57 $3.93 $4.17 $4.43
Commercial
All $2.32 All $2.75 $3.08 $3.39 $3.60 $3.82
Very Low Low Median Average High Very High
Avg Current $27.23 $37.99 $51.12 $56.49 $71.48 $98.04
Proposed $29.14 $39.58 $54.31 $60.37 $75.52 $99.76
hcf/mo 3 7 12 14 19 27
$0.00
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
Single Family Residential Monthly Bill, 3/4" Meter
Avg Current Proposed
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 7
Figure 1-5: Commercial Monthly Bills, FY 2026
Figure 1-6 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical single-family customer (12 hcf/mo) on a ¾” meter for the
City’s proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies. Arcadia has the second-lowest bill.
Figure 1-6: Neighborhood Comparison – Monthly Water, Single Family, 3/4" Meter, 12 hcf
Figure 1-7 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical commercial customer (12 hcf/mo) on a 1” meter for the
City’s proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies.
$26.30 $33.26
$51.82
$105.18
$302.38
$29.29 $37.54
$59.54
$122.79
$356.54
$0.00
$50.00
$100.00
$150.00
$200.00
$250.00
$300.00
$350.00
$400.00
1 hcf/mo 4 hcf/mo 12 hcf/mo 35 hcf/mo 120 hcf/mo
Commercial Monthly Bill, 1" Meter
Current Proposed
$53.88 $54.31
$69.27 $76.76 $76.94
$90.60 $94.07 $94.77
$111.56
$124.47
$-
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
$140.00
SFR Monthly Water Bill Comparison
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 8
Figure 1-7: Neighborhood Comparison – Monthly Water, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf
1.5. Proposed Wastewater Financial Plan
Raftelis conducted a status quo cash flow analysis to evaluate whether existing wastewater rates can adequately
fund the City’s collection-system expenses over the study period (FY 2026 – FY 2034). The analysis projected
annual revenues, operation and maintenance expenses, debt service payments, and capital expenditures through
FY 2034. Raftelis projects that with no rate increases over the study period, the City will fully deplete its
wastewater reserves in FY 2032. Raftelis worked with City staff to develop the following proposed wastewater
revenue adjustments over the five-year rate-setting period (see Table 1-4). The proposed revenue adjustments
were selected to ensure the wastewater operating fund has sufficient funds to cover annual expenses and to
maintain reserve levels throughout the study period.
Table 1-4: Proposed Wastewater Revenue Adjustments
Figure 1-8 illustrates the Wastewater Financial Plan – it compares existing (solid line) and proposed revenues
(dashed line) with projected expenses (stacked columns). The expenses include O&M, capital, debt service, and
reserve funding. The green bars above the X-axis show the net cash used to build up the reserves and the bars
below the X-axis show the withdrawals from reserves to fund costs. Projected revenue from existing rates, if
continued unchanged, would not meet future projected total expenses and illustrates the need for revenue
adjustments necessary to maintain operations, accomplish the desired CIP, and to meet reserve targets.
$59.54 $62.90
$81.18
$88.33
$96.69 $100.96
$109.00 $111.40
$129.68
$145.75
$0.00
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
$140.00
$160.00
Arcadia
(Proposed)
Azusa Alhambra Monrovia El Monte Monterey
Park
Covina Sierra
Madre
Pasadena Glendora
(Zone A)
Commmercial Water Bill Comparison
Effective Date Adjustment
Jan. 1, 2026 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2027 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2028 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2029 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2030 6.0%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 9
Figure 1-8: Proposed Wastewater Financial Plan
Figure 1-9 summarizes the projected wastewater CIP and that it is funded through rate revenue. As shown, the
City does not plan to issue debt to pay for future CIP during the study period.
Figure 1-9: Wastewater Capital Financing Plan
Figure 1-10 displays the projected total wastewater enterprise yearly ending balance (blue bars). The line is the
total fund target balance. While the projected fund balance in FY 2030 is above the line, these reserves are
projected to help pay for future capital projects identified in the full study period (ending FY 2034).
($2.0)
($1.0)
$0.0
$1.0
$2.0
$3.0
$4.0
$5.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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Financial Plan
O&M Expenses Capital Projects Debt Service
Reserve Funding Current Revenues Proposed Revenues
$1.5
$2.6
$1.0 $1.1 $1.4
$0.0
$0.5
$1.0
$1.5
$2.0
$2.5
$3.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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Capital Financing Plan
Rate Funded
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 10
Figure 1-10: Projected Wastewater Fund Ending Balance
1.6. Proposed Wastewater Rates
Table 1-5 shows the proposed 5-year schedule of wastewater rates. Note the rates reflect a change from bi-
monthly billing to monthly billing in January 2026. Rates for FY 2026 reflect the cost-of-service analysis. Rates
for FY 2027 and beyond equal the prior year rates multiplied by the revenue adjustment. Rates are rounded up
to the nearest penny.
Table 1-5: Proposed Five-Year Wastewater Rate Schedule
Table 1-6 shows a bill comparison for FY 2026 for residential and non-commercial wastewater customers.
$4.6
$3.3
$3.8 $3.5 $3.7
$0.0
$0.5
$1.0
$1.5
$2.0
$2.5
$3.0
$3.5
$4.0
$4.5
$5.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
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Combined Ending Balance
Ending Balance Reserve Target
Customer Class Current FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Effective Date Jan. 1, 2026 Jan. 1, 2027 Jan. 1, 2028 Jan. 1, 2029 Jan. 1, 2030
Residential (monthly)
Single Family, $/mo $9.39 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Multi-Family Dwelling Units, $/mo $9.39 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Residential Sewer Only, $/mo $9.39 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Non-Residential
Commercial, $/mo $28.17 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Government, $/mo $28.17 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
City Accounts, $/mo $28.17 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Volumetric, $/hcf $0.31 $0.67 $0.72 $0.77 $0.82 $0.87
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 11
Table 1-6: Monthly Example Bills, FY 2026 vs Current
Figure 1-11 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical single-family customer (12 hcf/mo) for the City’s
proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies.
Figure 1-11: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Single Family
Figure 1-12 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical commercial customer (12 hcf/mo) for the City’s
proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies.
Customer Class Current FY 2026
Residential $9.39 $9.05
Non-Residential, 12 hcf/mo $31.89 $17.09
Non-Residential, 114 hcf/mo $63.51 $85.43
$9.05 $9.77
$14.96 $16.15 $17.16
$22.36 $22.46 $22.97
$0.00
$5.00
$10.00
$15.00
$20.00
$25.00
Arcadia
(Proposed)
El Monte Monrovia Pasadena Azusa Sierra
Madre
Monterey
Park
Alhambra
SFR Monthly Sewer Bill Comparison
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 12
Figure 1-12: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf
$14.85 $17.09
$20.94 $24.43 $26.94 $27.14 $28.90
$65.23
$-
$10.00
$20.00
$30.00
$40.00
$50.00
$60.00
$70.00
El Monte Arcadia
(Proposed)
Azusa Pasadena Sierra
Madre
Alhambra Monrovia Monterey
Park
Commercial Monthly Wastewater Bill, 12 hcf
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 13
2. Rate Setting Methodology
This study was conducted using industry-standard principles outlined by the American Water Works
Association (AWWA) in the publication, Manual of Water Supply Practice M1, Principles of Water Rates,
Fees, and Charges and in the Water Environment Federation (WEF) publication, Manual of Practice No. 27,
Financing and Charges for Wastewater Systems. The process and approach Raftelis utilized in the study to
determine water and wastewater rates is informed by the City’s policy objectives, the current water and
wastewater systems and rates, and the legal requirements in California (namely, Proposition 218). The resulting
financial plans, cost of service analyses, and rate design process follows five key steps, outlined below, to
determine proposed rates that fulfill the City’s objectives, meet industry standards, and align with relevant
regulations.
1. Financial Plan - Projections: The first step is to develop a multi-year financial plan that projects the
City’s revenues, expenses, capital project financing, annual debt service, and reserve funding. The
financial plan is used to determine the revenue adjustment, which allows the City to recover adequate
revenues to fund expenses and reserves.
2. Financial Plan - Revenue Requirement Determination: After completing the financial plan, the rate-
making process begins by determining the revenue requirement for the test year, also known as the rate-
setting year. The test year for this study is FY 2026. The revenue requirement should sufficiently fund
the City’s operating costs, annual debt service (including coverage requirements), capital expenditures,
and reserve funding as projected based on the annual budget estimates.
3. Cost-of-Service Analysis: The annual cost of providing water/wastewater service, or the revenue
requirement, is then distributed to customer classes commensurate with their use of and burden on the
water/wastewater system. A cost-of-service analysis involves the following steps:
a. Functionalize costs—The different components of the revenue requirement are categorized into
functions such as supply, transmission/collection, storage, customer service for water, and
collection customer service, etc., for wastewater.
b. Allocate to cost causation components – the functionalized costs are then allocated to cost
causation components such as supply, base delivery, peaking, etc. for water and collection,
customer service, etc. for wastewater.
c. Develop unit costs – unit costs for each cost causation component are determined using units of
service, such as total use, peaking units, equivalent meters, number of customers, etc., for each
component.
d. Distribute cost components – the cost components are allocated to each customer class using
the unit costs in proportion to their units of service (demand and burden on the system).
A water cost-of-service analysis also considers both the average water demand and peak demand.
Peaking costs are incurred during periods of peak consumption, most often coinciding with summer
water use. There are additional capacity-related costs associated with designing, constructing,
operating, maintaining, and replacing facilities to meet peak demand. Peaking imposes additional costs
on a water utility and is used to determine the cost burden from peaking-related facilities.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 14
4. Rate Design: After allocating the revenue requirement to each customer class, the project team designs
and calculates rates. Rates do more than simply recover costs; within the legal framework and industry
standards, properly designed rates should support and optimize the City’s policy objectives. Rates also
act as a public information tool in communicating these policy objectives to customers. This process
also includes a rate impact analysis and sample customer bill impacts.
5. Administrative Record Preparation and Rate Adoption: The final step in a rate study is to develop
the administrative record (report) in conjunction with the rate adoption process. This report serves as
the administrative record for this study. The administrative record documents the study results and
presents the methodologies, rationale, justifications, and calculations used to determine the proposed
rates. A thorough and methodological administrative record serves two important functions:
maintaining defensibility in a stringent legal environment and communicating the rationale for revenue
adjustments and proposed rates to customers and key stakeholders.
Values shown in report tables and figures are rounded to the digit shown. Therefore, any manual
reproduction of the calculations shown may not match the precise results displayed in the report.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 15
3. Key Inputs and Assumptions
Raftelis developed water and wastewater rate models in Microsoft Excel to project financial and rate
calculations through FY 2034. The City’s fiscal year spans from July 1 through June 30. Projections in future
years were generally made based on budgeted FY 2025 and FY 2026 data using key assumptions outlined
below. All assumptions were discussed with and reviewed by City staff to ensure that the City’s unique
characteristics were incorporated. Note that most table values shown throughout this report are rounded to the
last digit shown and, therefore, may not calculate precisely to the values shown.
3.1. Current Water Rates
Table 3-1 shows the current water rate schedule. Customers are currently subject to two charges: 1) bi-monthly
Fixed Charges and 2) Volume Charges per hundred cubic feet (hcf) of water delivered. Fixed Service Charges
vary based on meter size. Volumetric rates vary based on customer type: a tiered volumetric rate for single
family customers where the tier blocks change based on meter size and season, a tiered volumetric rate for
multifamily, and uniform rates for commercial, and other non-residential customers. Customers with a private
fire service line also pay a bi-monthly private fire service charge.
Table 3-1: Current Water Rate Structure
Bi-Monthly Fixed Charge Bi-Monthly Private Fire Service
Meter Size $/bi-mo Fire Line Size $/bi-mo
5/8"$39.79 2" and smaller $11.55
3/4"$42.51 4"$23.10
1"$47.95 6"$34.64
1-1/2"$61.55 8"$46.18
2"$77.87 10"$57.75
3"$115.96
4"$170.37
6"$333.59
8"$524.02
10"$796.07
Volume Charge
Customer Class $/hcf
Single Family*
Tier 1 $2.39
Tier 2 $2.98
Tier 3 $3.07
Tier 4 $3.83
Multifamily
Tier 1 12 hcf/dwelling unit $2.18
Tier 2 > 12 hcf/dwelling unit $2.43
Commercial $2.32
Government, Institution, & Irrigation $2.83
* tier blocks vary by meter size & season
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 16
3.2. Current Wastewater Rates
Table 3-2 shows the current adopted wastewater rate schedule. All customer accounts are charged a fixed
charge. Non-residential customers are additionally charged based on metered water use.
Table 3-2: Current Bi-monthly Wastewater Rates
3.3. Projected Service Connections
3.3.1. Water
Table 3-3 shows the actual number of potable water accounts by meter size for FY 2025 and the projected
number of accounts through the study period. The City provided the projected increase in accounts by meter
size. The number of accounts is used to forecast the amount of fixed revenue the City will receive from the bi-
monthly service charges and the annual water use.
Table 3-3: Projected Number of Water Meters
Table 3-4 shows the projected number of private fire service lines
Charge Type Unit Rate
Flat Charge, $/EDU
Residential $18.78
Commercial, Government, Institution $56.33
Volume, $/hcf
Commercial, Government, Institution $0.31
Meter Size FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
5/8"750 750 750 750 750 750
3/4"4,280 4,280 4,280 4,280 4,280 4,280
1"5,482 5,569 5,656 5,743 5,830 5,918
1-1/2"2,721 2,750 2,779 2,808 2,837 2,866
2"934 934 935 936 937 937
3"88 91 94 97 100 104
4"41 42 43 44 44 44
6"21 25 29 33 37 40
8"4 4 5 6 6 6
10"0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 14,321 14,445 14,571 14,697 14,821 14,945
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 17
Table 3-4: Projected Number of Private Fire Service Lines
3.3.2. Wastewater
Table 3-5 shows the current and projected wastewater accounts or dwelling units. The City provided the
FY 2025 billing data and the estimated growth in residential and commercial accounts. The City also identified
that some government and city accounts had not been billed. The City started billing those accounts during
FY 2026. The City also serves some sewer-only customers.
Table 3-5: Projected Wastewater Accounts or Dwelling Units
3.4. Water Use Assumptions
Water use presumes that customers within each customer class continue to use water similarly to FY 2025
water use on an average per account basis. This average use per account for each customer class is applied to
the number of accounts for each class to determine the water sales each year. The projected water demand is
shown in Table 3-6.
Table 3-6: Water Use Assumptions, hcf
Line Size FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
5/8"1 1 1 1 1 1
3/4"0 0 0 0 0 0
1"2 2 2 2 2 2
1-1/2"2 2 2 2 2 2
2"92 92 92 92 92 92
3"7 7 7 7 7 7
4"189 189 189 189 189 189
6"120 120 120 120 120 120
8"30 30 30 30 30 30
10"4 4 4 4 4 4
Total 447 447 447 447 447 447
Customer Class FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Single Family 10,965 11,066 11,167 11,268 11,369 11,471
Multifamily 8,057 8,169 8,281 8,393 8,505 8,617
Commercial 775 782 791 800 807 812
Government 31 36 41 41 41 41
City Accounts 0 11 21 21 21 21
Sewer Only 250 250 250 250 250 250
Total 20,077 20,313 20,550 20,772 20,992 21,211
Customer Class FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Single Family 3,009,317 3,035,061 3,060,805 3,086,549 3,112,293 3,138,281
Multifamily 794,096 804,836 815,576 826,316 837,056 847,796
Commercial 985,762 993,957 1,004,494 1,015,030 1,023,226 1,030,250
Government,
Institution, &
Irrigation 437,584 437,584 437,584 437,584 437,584 437,584
Total 5,226,759 5,271,438 5,318,459 5,365,480 5,410,159 5,453,912
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 18
3.5. Wastewater Flow Assumptions
Table 3-7 shows the projected wastewater flows for accounts that are or will be billed, at least in part, on metered
water data. Flow equals the projected metered water use times the estimated return-to-sewer factors. FY 2025
is based on billed water data. Our experience shows that non-residential accounts will use 10% of the water for
irrigation or other uses and that will not be discharged as wastewater. This is also consistent with the prior rate
study performed by others.
Table 3-7: Projected Wastewater Flows for Customers Billed on Flow, hcf
3.6. Water and Wastewater Financial Plan Assumptions
Inflationary assumptions shown in Table 3-8 were used to project O&M expenses beyond FY 2026. To ensure
that future costs are reasonably projected, Raftelis worked with the City to generate assumptions regarding
inflationary factors including general and salary inflation and water cost inflation as shown in Table 3-8. The
inflationary factors shown in Table 3-8 were then applied to the FY 2026 budgeted cost estimates to develop
the FY 2027 and subsequent year projections. The inflation rates shown for Main San Grabriel Basin over
allotment water supply costs are based on input from the City regarding the current unit rate and reflect a
$100/AF/year increase. Supply costs within allotment are based on an estimated cost in FY 2022 escalated at
5 percent per year through FY 2025, then increased at 7 percent for FY 2026 and as shown below for
subsequent years.
Table 3-8: Inflationary Assumptions
Interest earnings on cash reserves are projected at 3 percent interest rate for FY 2026 and FY 2027 lowering to
a more conservative estimate of 1.5 percent per year thereafter.
Customer Class
Return
Factor FY 2025 FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Commercial 90%816,281 823,655 833,137 842,618 849,993 855,260
Government 90%237,979 242,285 246,591 246,591 246,591 246,591
City Accounts 90%0 17,639 35,277 35,277 35,277 35,277
Total 1,054,260 1,083,579 1,115,005 1,124,486 1,131,861 1,137,128
FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
General 3%3%3%3%
Capital 4%4%4%4%
Salary 5%5%5%5%
Benefits 4%4%4%4%
Chemicals 5%5%5%5%
Utilities 7%7%5%5%
Water Supply Base 7%7%5%5%
Water Supply Over Allotment 8%7%7%6%
Other Operating Revenues 2%2%2%2%
Property Tax 2%2%2%2%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 19
4. Water Financial Plan
This section describes the assumptions used in projecting water enterprise operating and capital expenses as
well as reserve coverage requirements for the study period (FY 2025 – FY 2034). These assumptions determine
the overall revenue adjustments and total amount of revenue required from rates. The revenue covers operating
and maintenance (O&M) and capital expenses as well as reserve funding. Revenue adjustments represent the
average rate increase for the City as a whole; rate changes for individual customers will depend on the cost-of-
service analysis described in the following chapter.
Financial plan assumptions were provided by and discussed in detail with City staff. The assumptions shown
in Table 3-8 were incorporated into the financial plan. To develop the financial plan, Raftelis projected annual
expenses and revenues, modeled reserve balances, and added planned capital expenditures. The City is not
anticipating debt financing any capital improvements. This section of the report provides a discussion of
projected revenue, O&M expenses, the CIP, and reserve funding under existing rates and the revenue
adjustments needed to achieve fiscal sustainability.
4.1. Current Rate Revenue
The City’s revenues consist of rate revenues, interest earnings on cash reserves, and other miscellaneous
revenues. The rate revenue projections shown below assume that January 1, 2025 (Table 3-1) rates are effective
throughout the study period and, therefore, represent estimated revenues in the absence of any rate increase.
This status quo scenario provides a baseline from which Raftelis evaluates the need for revenue adjustments.
4.1.1. Calculated Water Rate Revenues
Raftelis projected water rate revenues from fixed service charges and volume charges for FY 2026 through
FY 2030 based on January 1, 2025, water rates, the projected number of water meters, and projected annual
water use.
The City collects fixed monthly service charges from its customers based on meter size. Table 4-1 shows
projected fixed service charge revenues under current rates over the study period. Fixed charge revenues are
calculated by connection size in each year as follows based on current water rates (from Table 3-1) and the
projected number of water meters (from Table 3-3)1.
Annual Fixed Charge Revenue for ¾” meter = [FY 2026 fixed rate ¾” meter] × [Number of ¾” connections] ×
[6 Bills per year]
The small increases in revenues are due to growth.
1 The example is shown for a ¾” meter. The same formula is applied for each meter size.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 20
Table 4-1: Projected Fixed Charge Revenues Under Current Rates
Table 4-2 shows projected volume charge revenues under current rates over the study period. Volume charge
revenues are calculated by customer class in each year as follows based on current water rates and projected
water use (Table 3-6). This same formula is used at the tier level to calculate the revenue for residential
customers.
Annual Volume Charge Revenue = [FY 2026 rate per hcf] × [Annual Water Use in hcf]
Table 4-2: Projected Volume Charge Revenue Under Current Rates
4.1.2. Other Revenues
Table 4-3 shows all other revenues. All FY 2025 other revenues are based on the City’s FY 2025 budget.
FY 2026 is also from the City’s budget except for interest income. Values in FY 2027 through FY 2030 were
projected by Raftelis. Interest revenue is estimated beginning in FY 2026 based on estimated beginning fund
Meter Size FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
5/8"$179,055 $179,055 $179,055 $179,055 $179,055
3/4"$1,091,657 $1,091,657 $1,091,657 $1,091,657 $1,091,657
1"$1,602,201 $1,627,231 $1,652,261 $1,677,291 $1,702,609
1-1/2"$1,015,575 $1,026,285 $1,036,994 $1,047,704 $1,058,414
2"$436,383 $436,851 $437,318 $437,785 $437,785
3"$63,314 $65,401 $67,489 $69,576 $72,359
4"$42,933 $43,955 $44,978 $44,978 $44,978
6"$50,039 $58,045 $66,051 $74,057 $80,062
8"$12,576 $15,721 $18,865 $18,865 $18,865
Total $4,493,734 $4,544,201 $4,594,667 $4,640,967 $4,685,782
Customer Class FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Single Family Residential
Tier 1 $3,157,461 $3,183,416 $3,209,372 $3,235,328 $3,261,538
Tier 2 $2,640,408 $2,663,605 $2,686,801 $2,709,998 $2,733,409
Tier 3 $1,038,630 $1,047,443 $1,056,257 $1,065,070 $1,073,965
Tier 4 $1,875,125 $1,891,322 $1,907,519 $1,923,715 $1,940,063
Subtotal: Single Family $8,711,624 $8,785,787 $8,859,949 $8,934,112 $9,008,975
Multifamily
Tier 1 $1,155,361 $1,170,779 $1,186,197 $1,201,614 $1,217,032
Tier 2 $667,895 $676,807 $685,720 $694,633 $703,545
Subtotal: Multifamily $1,823,256 $1,847,586 $1,871,917 $1,896,247 $1,920,578
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
$1,238,363 $1,238,363 $1,238,363 $1,238,363 $1,238,363
Commercial $2,305,981 $2,330,426 $2,354,871 $2,373,883 $2,390,180
Total Volume Revenue $14,079,223 $14,202,161 $14,325,099 $14,442,605 $14,558,095
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 21
balances, revenues and expenses, and the assumed interest rate. It reflects the status quo case where there are
no revenue adjustments. Miscellaneous revenue is forecast to stay flat.
Table 4-3: Projected Other Water Enterprise Revenues (Status Quo)
4.2. Annual Expenses
The City’s expenses include water supply purchases, operations and maintenance expenses, capital expenses,
and debt service. This section discusses the details of each of these expenses.
4.2.1. Total Operations and Maintenance Budget
4.2.1.1. Water Purchase Cost
The City obtains about 80 percent of its water from the Main San Gabriel Basin and 20 percent from the
Raymond Basin. Occasionally, the City purchases treated, imported surface water from the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California via the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District. Additionally, the
City experiences about 7.5 percent in water losses, which is added to the projected water sales to determine the
total amount of water supply needed. This is shown in the top half of Table 4-4, on the following page.
The middle section of Table 4-4 shows the projected unit costs for the water supply. In FY 2027, the City
anticipates that there will be a supplemental RDA charge of $50/AF. The bottom section of the table multiplies
the water supply by source by the associated unit rate to calculate the projected water supply costs.
Customer Class FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Miscellaneous Revenue
Rent & Royalties $28,000 $28,000 $28,000 $28,000 $28,000
PW Inspection Fees $60,000 $60,000 $60,000 $60,000 $60,000
Demand Resposne Program $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000
Backflow Admin $160,000 $160,000 $160,000 $160,000 $160,000
Miscellaneous $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
Subtotal Misc.$288,000 $288,000 $288,000 $288,000 $288,000
Interest Income $159,000 $22,118 $0 $0 $0
Total $447,000 $310,118 $288,000 $288,000 $288,000
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 22
Table 4-4: Summary of Projected Purchased Water Cost Expenses
4.2.1.2. Operating and Maintenance Expenses
The City provided Raftelis with its water budget for FY 2025 and FY 2026. To project the City’s O&M expenses
in future years, Raftelis used the escalation percentages shown in Table 3-8. A summary of the budgeted and
projected O&M is shown in Table 4-5.
Table 4-5: Summary of Projected Water Operations and Maintenance Expenses
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Total Water Sales, hcf 5,271,438 5,318,459 5,365,480 5,410,159 5,453,912
Total Water Demand, hcf 5,698,852 5,749,685 5,800,519 5,848,821 5,896,121
Total Water Demand, AF 13,082 13,199 13,315 13,426 13,535
Supply Met by Sources (AF)
East Raymond Basin 2,300 2,300 2,300 2,300 2,338
West Raymond Basin 600 600 600 600 610
Main San Gabriel Basin (within allotment)6,770 6,346 6,346 6,346 6,346
Main San Gabriel Basin (over allotment)3,412 3,953 4,069 4,180 4,240
Upper Basin District (MWD) treated 0 0 0 0 0
Leased Water 0 0 0 0 0
Total Supply (AF)13,082 13,199 13,315 13,426 13,535
Supply Costs
Within Allotment $328.69 $351.70 $369.28 $387.75 $407.14
Over Allotment (FY blended rate)$1,365.00 $1,465.00 $1,565.00 $1,665.00 $1,765.00
RDA Increase*$0.00 $50.00 $50.00 $50.00 $50.00
Supply Costs
East Raymond Basin $706,531 $755,988 $808,907 $849,353 $906,695
West Raymond Basin $184,312 $197,214 $211,019 $221,570 $236,529
Main San Gabriel Basin (within allotment)$2,079,529 $2,085,870 $2,231,881 $2,343,475 $2,460,648
Main San Gabriel Basin (over allotment)$4,316,551 $5,395,247 $5,961,453 $6,541,903 $7,060,165
RDA Increase $0 $514,928 $520,763 $526,306 $529,317
Upper Basin District (MWD) treated $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Leased Water $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Total $7,286,924 $8,949,248 $9,734,023 $10,482,607 $11,193,354
* Applies to Main San Gabriel Supply
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
7201 Water Administration $3,038,200 $3,155,248 $3,276,961 $3,403,532 $3,535,159
7204 Water Main & Replacement $1,752,600 $1,824,050 $1,898,473 $1,975,996 $2,056,749
7205 Water Meter/Customer Service $973,200 $1,008,360 $1,044,839 $1,082,688 $1,121,960
7206 Water Production/Quality $11,509,524 $13,410,073 $14,447,607 $15,409,394 $16,343,208
7208 Water Facility Replacement $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
7209 Water Equipment Replacement $1,156,828 $1,590,625 $814,022 $706,351 $1,043,945
Total - O&M Expenses $18,430,352 $20,988,355 $21,481,902 $22,577,961 $24,101,021
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 23
4.2.2. Capital Improvement Plan
Table 4-6 shows the City’s plan for water capital improvements using the inflation factor listed in Table 3-8.
Table 4-6: Projected Capital Improvement Projects
4.2.3. Existing and Proposed Debt Service
The water fund currently pays about $94,400 per year on the 2020 Pension Obligation Bonds. The City plans
to use cash to fund capital projects over the study period. Therefore, no additional debt is proposed.
4.3. Reserve Targets
The City maintains several water enterprise reserve funds.
Operating Reserve – The Operating Reserve is used primarily to meet ongoing cash flow requirements. The City’s
minimum reserve target is set at 25 percent (three months) of water revenues.
Capital Reserve – The Capital Reserve is used to cover capital costs and any unexpected and unplanned
infrastructure repairs and replacements not included in the budget as well as to set aside money for future capital
projects. Therefore, the City has set a target equal to the 5-year average of cash-funded capital projects. When
a future multimillion-dollar capital project such as a water storage tank is needed, the capital reserve fund can
be drawn upon to help pay for that project. Then the reserves would build back over time.
Rate Stabilization Reserve – The Rate Stabilization is used primarily to help reduce an annual revenue
adjustment due to a short-term spike in costs or decrease in revenues from droughts. The City’s reserve target
is set at 10 percent of the commodity rate revenues.
Regulatory Reserve – A Regulatory reserve helps build and keep funds on hand for projects needed for potential
regulatory-driven projects. The City is targeting a desired total reserve across all funds of $14 million. The
balance after setting aside the targets amounts in the other reserves will be placed in the regulatory reserve.
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
SCADA System Upgrades $900,000 $0 $0 $0 $0
Valve Replacement Program $0 $250,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000
Well Inspection and Rehabilitation Program $400,000 $450,000 $350,000 $350,000 $350,000
Water Master Plan Update $350,000 $0 $0 $0 $0
Orange Grove Well Treatment - Design and Construction $6,000,000 $0 $0 $0 $0
Purchase and Install 800kw Generator at Live Oak Treatment Plant $850,000 $0 $0 $0 $0
Public Works Facility Improvements $0 $8,000 $7,500 $7,500 $7,500
Canyon Reservoirs Coating $0 $800,000 $0 $0 $0
Arcadia Wash Bridge Guard Railing Improvement Program $0 $200,000 $200,000 $200,000 $200,000
Water Main Replacement Program $0 $0 $1,000,000 $700,000 $700,000
Future Projects $0 $0 $0 $0 $1,000,000
Total, Uninflated $8,500,000 $1,708,000 $1,707,500 $1,407,500 $2,407,500
Total, Inflated $8,840,000 $1,847,373 $1,920,705 $1,646,576 $2,929,092
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 24
4.4. Proposed Financial Plan and Revenue Adjustments
The proposed revenue adjustments help ensure adequate revenue to fund operating expenses, capital
expenditures, and meet reserve targets. The Financial Plan modeling assumes the first revenue adjustment
occurs on January 1, 2026. The proposed revenue adjustments would enable the City to meet operating costs
and to execute the CIP shown in Table 4-6, and meet all reserve targets by the end of FY 2030. Table 4-7 shows
the proposed revenue adjustments for the rate-setting period.
Table 4-7: Proposed Revenue Adjustments
Table 4-8, on the following page, shows the operating fund cash flow detail over the study period assuming the
revenue adjustments shown above. Line 1 shows the projected rate-revenue under existing rates. Line 8 shows
the total forecast adjusted revenue from the proposed revenue adjustments plus revenue under existing rates.
Line 11 shows the total other revenues. Line 12 shows total water fund revenue including miscellaneous
revenues and interest. Line 19 shows total O&M expenses. Lines 20 – 22 show debt service, capital outlays,
and net cashflow, respectively. Line 23 shows the enterprise’s operating balance at the start of the fiscal year.
The ending operating fund balance in Line 24 is the beginning balance (Line 23) plus the net cashflow (Line 22).
Line 25 shows the target operating reserve level. The operating reserve is expected to be below the total target
(operating, plus rate stabilization, plus regulatory), it is expected to be at or above target in FY 2030.
Table 4-9 shows the capital sources and uses. Sources include the Settlement fund as well as transfers into capital
fund from operations. The ending balance is projected to meet the capital reserve target by FY 2027.
Effective Date Adjustment
January, 2026 12.0%
January, 2027 12.0%
January, 2028 10.0%
January, 2029 6.0%
January, 2030 6.0%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 25
Table 4-8: Water Operating Cashflow
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
1 Revenue Under Existing Rates $18,662,606 $18,836,010 $19,009,415 $19,173,221 $19,333,526
Revenue Adjustments
2 # Mo First Year Adjustment
3 FY 2026 6 12.0%$1,119,756 $2,260,321 $2,281,130 $2,300,787 $2,320,023
4 FY 2027 6 12.0%$1,265,780 $2,554,865 $2,576,881 $2,598,426
5 FY 2028 6 10.0%$1,192,271 $2,405,089 $2,425,197
6 FY 2029 6 6.0%$793,679 $1,600,630
7 FY 2030 6 6.0%$848,334
8 Total Rate-Based Revenue $19,782,362 $22,362,112 $25,037,681 $27,249,657 $29,126,137
Other Revenue
9 Miscellaneous $288,000 $288,000 $288,000 $288,000 $288,000
10 Interest Income $176,052 $110,438 $66,767 $105,683 $148,577
11 Total Other Revenue $464,052 $398,438 $354,767 $393,683 $436,577
12 Total Revenue $20,246,415 $22,760,550 $25,392,448 $27,643,340 $29,562,714
O&M Expenses
13 7201 Water Administration $3,038,200 $3,155,248 $3,276,961 $3,403,532 $3,535,159
14 7204 Water Main & Replacement $1,752,600 $1,824,050 $1,898,473 $1,975,996 $2,056,749
15 7205 Water Meter/Customer Service $973,200 $1,008,360 $1,044,839 $1,082,688 $1,121,960
16 7206 Water Production/Quality $11,509,524 $13,410,073 $14,447,607 $15,409,394 $16,343,208
17 7208 Water Facility Replacement $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
18 7209 Water Equipment Replacement $1,156,828 $1,590,625 $814,022 $706,351 $1,043,945
19 Total - O&M Expenses $18,430,352 $20,988,355 $21,481,902 $22,577,961 $24,101,021
20 Debt Service $94,418 $94,454 $94,408 $94,384 $94,491
21 Capital Outlay $4,155,000 $1,547,373 $1,620,705 $1,346,576 $2,629,092
22 Net Cashflow -$2,433,355 $130,368 $2,195,433 $3,624,419 $2,738,110
23 Beginning Balance $7,916,498 $3,820,333 $3,542,226 $5,360,065 $8,731,031
24 Ending Balance $3,820,333 $3,542,226 $5,360,065 $8,731,031 $11,079,236
25 Target Operating Reserves $4,607,588 $5,247,089 $5,370,475 $5,644,490 $6,025,255
26 Target Rate Stabilization Reserve $1,407,922 $1,420,216 $1,432,510 $1,444,261 $1,455,810
27 Target Regulatory Reserve $2,000,000 $5,214,877 $4,643,321 $4,068,361 $3,245,092
28 Over/Under Total Target -$4,195,177 -$8,339,956 -$6,086,242 -$2,426,081 $353,079
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 26
Table 4-9: Capital Fund Cashflow
Figure 4-1 through Figure 4-3 display the FY 2026 through FY 2030 Financial Plan in graphical form.
Figure 4-1 illustrates the Financial Plan – it compares existing (solid black line) and proposed revenues (dashed
black line) with projected expenses (stacked columns). The green bars above the X-axis show the net cash used
to build up the reserves. The expenses include O&M, purchased water, debt service, and reserve funding.
Projected revenue from existing rates if continued unchanged would not meet future projected total expenses
and illustrates the need for revenue adjustments necessary to maintain operations, accomplish the desired CIP,
and to eventually meet reserve targets.
Figure 4-1: Proposed Financial Plan
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
1 Beginning Balance $596,939 $1,709,343 $2,176,100 $2,589,435 $2,883,939
Sources
2 Debt Proceeds $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
3 Settlement Payments $4,100,000 $300,000 $300,000 $300,000 $300,000
4 Rate Funded CIP $4,155,000 $1,547,373 $1,620,705 $1,346,576 $2,629,092
5 Transfer into Reserves $1,662,810 $408,475 $377,594 $253,453 $389,904
6 Interest $34,594 $58,282 $35,742 $41,050 $46,532
7 Total Sources $9,952,405 $2,314,129 $2,334,041 $1,941,080 $3,365,528
8 Less CIP $8,840,000 $1,847,373 $1,920,705 $1,646,576 $2,929,092
9 Ending Balance $1,709,343 $2,176,100 $2,589,435 $2,883,939 $3,320,375
10 Capital Reserve Target $2,259,749 $2,117,818 $2,553,694 $2,842,889 $3,273,843
11 Above/Below Target -$550,406 $58,282 $35,742 $41,050 $46,532
($10)
($5)
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
$35
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Financial Plan
Water Supply Costs O&M Expenses Capital Projects
Debt Service Reserve Funding Current Revenues
Proposed Revenues
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 27
Figure 4-2 summarizes the projected CIP and its funding sources: rates and Settlement funds from
environmental litigation. The City does not plan to issue debt to pay for future CIP during the study period.
Figure 4-2: Projected Capital Plan and Funding Sources
Figure 4-3 displays the projected total yearly ending balance (blue bars). The different targets, cumulatively
increasing from operating reserve, to operating plus capital, to operating plus capital plus rate stabilization, to
the total reserve are shown by the different red lines. By FY 2028, the operating reserve target is met. By
FY 2029, the operating, capital, and rate stabilization reserves are met. By FY 2030, the total reserve target is
met.
Figure 4-3: Projected Operating Fund Ending Balance
$8.8
$1.8 $1.9 $1.6
$2.9
$0
$1
$2
$3
$4
$5
$6
$7
$8
$9
$10
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Capital Financing Plan
Rate Funded Settlement Funded
$5.5 $5.7
$7.9
$11.6
$14.4
$0
$2
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$14
$16
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Combined Ending Balance
Ending Balance Operating Target
Op + Cap Target Op + Cap + Rate Stab Target
Oper. + Cap. + Rate Stbl. + Regulatory
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 28
5. Water Cost-of-Service Analysis
A cost-of-service analysis distributes a utility’s revenue requirement (costs) to each customer class
proportionally to the service received. This section explains the details of the cost-of-service analysis conducted
for the City of Arcadia for providing water services to customers.
After determining a utility’s revenue requirement, the next step in a cost-of-service analysis is to functionalize
its O&M costs to the following functions:
Supply – cost of pumping groundwater
Treatment – cost of treating water
Pumping – cost of pumping water through the system
Distribution – cost associated with pipes, pumps, mains, etc.
Distribution Storage – cost associated with storing treated water
Meter Maintenance – costs associated with meter maintenance and replacement
Customer Service – costs associated with meter reading, billing, and customer service
General and Administration (G&A) – general and administrative costs incurred by the City
Fire protection – costs associated with public fire hydrants
The functionalization of costs allows us to better allocate the costs to the rate components: monthly service
charge, monthly CIP component charge, and volumetric charge.
5.1. Revenue Requirement Determination
Table 5-1 shows the net revenue requirement from rates for FY 2026, the test year. The total revenue
requirement shown in Line 4 is equal to operating expenses and capital-related expenses (cash-funded capital
plus debt service). Other operating revenues, totaled in Line 7, comprise miscellaneous revenues and interest
income and reduce the total revenue required from rates. The adjustment transfers out of reserves (Line 8) and
reduced the revenue requirement. The mid-year increase (Line 9) reflects that the FY 2026 revenue adjustment
occurs part way through the fiscal year and adds to the revenue requirement.2 The net revenue required from
rates (Line 11) is equal to Line 4 plus Line 7 plus Line 10.
2 This rate adjustment is proposed to be adopted in January; thus, the revenue requirement calculation has to be adjusted
to incorporate this timing. Not adjusting these rates would result in only 6/12 of the rate adjustment being implemented
due to the six “missed” months.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 29
Table 5-1: Revenue Requirement Determination, FY 2026
5.2. Functionalization of Net Revenue Requirement
Functionalizing expenses allows Raftelis to follow the principles of rate setting theory in which the end goal is
to allocate the City’s revenue requirements to cost causation components. Table 5-2 shows the resulting
functionalization of the City’s O&M expenses (Line 4, Table 5-1) and capital-related costs (Line 4, Table 5-1).
Raftelis worked with City staff to functionalize the test year O&M line items to the functions listed at the
beginning of Section 5. The capital-related net revenue requirements are allocated based on the asset value on
a replacement cost less depreciation basis.
Table 5-2: Functionalization of Net Revenue Requirements
Capital-
No.Line Item Operating Related Total
Revenue Requirements
1 O&M $18,430,352 $0 $18,430,352
2 Debt Service $0 $94,418 $94,418
3 Cash Funded Capital $0 $4,155,000 $4,155,000
4 Total Revenue Requirements $18,430,352 $4,249,418 $22,679,770
Revenue Offsets
5 Miscellaneous Revenue -$288,000 $0 -$288,000
6 Interest Income -$176,052 $0 -$176,052
7 Total Other Revenue -$464,052 $0 -$464,052
Adjustments
8 To (from) Reserves -$2,433,355 $0 -$2,433,355
9 Add Revenue for Mid-Year Adjustment $1,119,756 $0 $1,119,756
10 Total Adjustments -$1,313,599 $0 -$1,313,599
11 Net Revenue Requirement $16,652,701 $4,249,418 $20,902,119
Function O&M Cost O&M Allocation Asset Value Capital Allocation
Supply $7,286,924 39.5%$8,401,654 11.3%
Treatment $4,222,600 22.9%$227,390 0.3%
Pumping $0 0.0%$7,500,106 10.1%
Distribution Storage $0 0.0%$11,672,205 15.7%
Distribution $1,752,600 9.5%$43,411,091 58.4%
Meter Maintenance $0 0.0%$473,271 0.6%
Customer Service and Meter Reading $973,200 5.3%$0 0.0%
General & Admin $4,195,028 22.8%$2,200,344 3.0%
Direct Fire Protection $0 0.0%$412,802 0.6%
Total $18,430,352 100.0%$74,298,862 100.0%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 30
5.3. Allocation of Functionalized Net Revenue
Requirements to Cost Components
After functionalizing the net revenue requirements, the next step is to allocate the functionalized net revenue
requirements to the following cost components.
Supply– variable costs associated with providing water supplies for all customers
Base–fixed costs associated with providing service under average demand conditions
Peaking (Max Day and Peak Hour) – costs associated with meeting demand in excess of average use
Customer Service– the costs associated with meter reading, billing, and customer service
Equivalent Meters– costs associated with meter capacity, maintenance, and replacement
Capital – capital-related costs
5.3.1. System Peaking Factors
Water demands vary by season and by time of day. Demands are very high in the summertime because of
irrigation demands, and on particularly hot days, the demand shoots up even further. Water systems have to be
designed to meet these peak requirements. Components of the water system are therefore oversized compared
to the requirement for average demands. For example, reservoirs are designed to meet maximum day
requirements, and distribution lines are designed to meet instantaneous peak demands or peak hour demands.
Therefore, peaking plays a significant part in the costs of operating and constructing a water system.
Demonstrating that rates are proportional to the demands and associated costs that customer classes place on
the utility system is critical to ensure that rates are aligned with the intent of Proposition 218. The capital and
operating costs of the system must then be allocated to customer classes in proportion to the demands they place
on the system. For costs recovered through a water utility’s fixed meter charge, costs are allocated either over
all accounts or by meter size, depending on the type of expense. Variable costs are allocated among customer
classes based on the demands they place on the water system and the cost of water supplies.
Peaking costs are computed for a maximum day and peak hour. The maximum day (max day) demand is the
maximum amount of water used in a single day in a year. The peak hour demand is the maximum amount of
water used in a single hour on the maximum day. Therefore, extra capacity3 costs include the O&M and capital
costs associated with meeting peak customer demand. To identify system costs associated with peaking, it is
first required to identify the system max day and max hour requirements, and then the costs associated with
peaking are distributed amongst the different classes based on their individual peaking characteristics. This
method is consistent with the AWWA Manual M1 and is widely used in the water industry to perform cost-of-
service analyses.
Table 5-3 shows the system-wide peaking factors used to derive the cost component allocation bases for base
and peaking costs. Base costs represent average daily demand during the year, which is normalized to a factor
of 1.00 (Column B, Line 1). The max day factor comes from the City’s FY 2025 billing data information, which
shows total billed usage of 11,999 AF (or approximately 33 AF/day on average) and City provided information
that the max day usage in FY 2025 was 59.35 AF. The calculated max day factor is the same as in the prior
study. The max hour factor is then retained from the prior rate study. The allocation bases (Columns C, D, and
E) are calculated using the equations outlined below the table.
3 The terms extra capacity, peaking and capacity costs are used interchangeably.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 31
Table 5-3: Water System Peaking Factors
The max day allocations are calculated as follows:
Base Delivery: B1 / B2 x 100% = C2
Max Day: 100% - C2 = D2
The peak hour allocations are calculated as follows:
Base Delivery: B1 / B3 x 100% = C3
Max Day: (B2 – B1) / B3 x 100% = D3
Peak Hour: 100% - C3 – D3 = E3
5.3.2. Operating and Capital Allocation
Table 5-4 shows the system functions, the rationale for allocating each function to the various cost components,
and the percentage allocation to each component. Most functions have a one-to-one relationship with a cost
component.
Table 5-4: Allocation of Functions to Cost Components
Table 5-5 shows the operating costs by functional component (Table 5-2) allocated to the cost components using
the allocations shown in Table 5-4.
Table 5-5: Allocation of Operation & Maintenance to Cost Components
No Cost Component Demand Factor Base Max Day Max Hour
(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)
1 Base 1.00 100.0%
2 Max Day 1.81 55.2%44.8%
3 Peak Hour 2.48 40.3%32.7%27.0%
Functional Allocation Rationale Supply Base-Delivery Max Day Max Hour Meters Public Fire Billing G&A Total
Supply Supply 100.0%100.0%
Treatment Max Day 55.2%44.8%100.0%
Pumping Max Day 55.2%44.8%100.0%
Distribution Storage Max Day 55.2%44.8%100.0%
Distribution Max Hour 40.3%32.7%27.0%100.0%
Meter Maintenance Meter 100.0%100.0%
Customer Service & Meter Reading Billing 0.0%100.0%100.0%
General & Admin G&A 5.0%25.0%70.0%100.0%
Direct Fire Protection Public Fire 100.0%100.0%
Functional Allocation O&M Supply Base-Delivery Max Day Max Hour Billing G&A
Supply $7,286,924 $7,286,924 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Treatment $4,222,600 $0 $2,332,928 $1,889,672 $0 $0 $0
Pumping $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Distribution Storage $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Distribution $1,752,600 $0 $706,694 $572,422 $473,485 $0 $0
Meter Maintenance $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Customer Service & Meter Reading $973,200 $0 $0 $0 $0 $973,200 $0
General & Admin $4,195,028 $209,751 $0 $0 $0 $1,048,757 $2,936,520
Direct Fire Protection $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Total $18,430,352 $7,496,675 $3,039,622 $2,462,094 $473,485 $2,021,957 $2,936,520
Allocation 100.0%40.7%16.5%13.4%2.6%11.0%15.9%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 32
Table 5-6 shows the allocation of asset value by function to the cost components using the allocations shown in
Table 5-4.
Table 5-6: Allocation of Asset Value to Cost Components
Table 5-7 shows the net revenue requirement allocated to the cost components. Operating costs on Line 1 are
the same as shown on the last line in Table 5-5. Line 2 applies the allocations from Table 5-6 to the capital-
related costs in Table 5-1. The Revenue offsets (Line 4) and adjustments (Line 5) are allocated to the cost centers
based on the allocation of operating costs excluding supply costs. The resulting net revenue requirement
allocation is shown in Line 6. This allocation is further adjusted to reallocate General and Administration
(G&A) costs. Operating G&A is allocated like total operating (Line 1, Line 4, and Line 5) except supply and
Capital G&A is allocated like capital (Line 2) except supply. This results in an adjusted net revenue requirement
allocation, as shown in Line 9.
Table 5-7: Net Revenue Requirement
5.4. Derivation of Units of Service
5.4.1. Equivalent Meters
Equivalent meters (EMs) are used to allocate meter-related costs. Larger meters can impose greater demands
on the system and are more expensive to install, maintain, and replace than smaller meters. Typically hydraulic
capacity (capacity) ratio is used to calculate equivalent meters. The capacity ratio is based on meter hydraulic
capacity and is calculated to represent the potential demand on the water system compared to the base meter
size. A ratio of hydraulic capacity is calculated by dividing the capacity of a meter at a given size by the base
meter capacity using the maximum safe operating flow rates in gallons per minute (gpm). The base meter used
in the study is the 3/4" meter.
Functional Allocation Asset Value Supply Base-Delivery Max Day Max Hour Meters Public Fire Billing G&A
Supply $8,401,654 $8,401,654 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Treatment $227,390 $0 $125,630 $101,760 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Pumping $7,500,106 $0 $4,143,705 $3,356,401 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Distribution Storage $11,672,205 $0 $6,448,732 $5,223,473 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Distribution $43,411,091 $0 $17,504,472 $14,178,622 $11,727,996 $0 $0 $0 $0
Meter Maintenance $473,271 $0 $0 $0 $0 $473,271 $0 $0 $0
Customer Service & Meter Reading $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
General & Admin $2,200,344 $110,017 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $550,086 $1,540,241
Direct Fire Protection $412,802 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $412,802 $0 $0
Total $74,298,862 $8,511,671 $28,222,539 $22,860,256 $11,727,996 $473,271 $412,802 $550,086 $1,540,241
Allocation 100.0%11.5%38.0%30.8%15.8%0.6%0.6%0.7%2.1%
No Revenue Requirement Total Supply
Base-
Delivery Max Day Max Hour Meters Public Fire Billing G&A
1 Operating $18,430,352 $7,496,675 $3,039,622 $2,462,094 $473,485 $0 $0 $2,021,957 $2,936,520
2 Capital $4,249,418 $486,813 $1,614,148 $1,307,460 $670,766 $27,068 $23,610 $31,461 $88,092
3 Revenue Requirement $22,679,770 $7,983,488 $4,653,770 $3,769,554 $1,144,251 $27,068 $23,610 $2,053,418 $3,024,611
4 Revenue Offsets-Operating ($464,052) $0 ($129,009) ($104,497) ($20,096) $0 $0 ($85,817) ($124,633)
5 Adjustments-Operating ($1,313,599) $0 ($365,188) ($295,802) ($56,886) $0 $0 ($242,923) ($352,801)
6 Net Revenue Requirement $20,902,119 $7,983,488 $4,159,573 $3,369,254 $1,067,269 $27,068 $23,610 $1,724,679 $2,547,178
7 Reallocation G&A - Op $0 $0 $934,668 $757,081 $145,594 $0 $0 $621,742 ($2,459,086)
8 Reallocation G&A - Cap $0 $0 $38,697 $31,345 $16,081 $649 $566 $754 ($88,092)
9 Adjusted Net Rev Req $20,902,119 $7,983,488 $5,132,939 $4,157,680 $1,228,944 $27,717 $24,176 $2,347,175 $0
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 33
Table 5-8 shows the meter capacity and capacity ratio for each meter size. The capacity in gpm is based on the
safe operating flow rates provided in the AWWA Manual M1. The capacity ratios (Column C) are calculated
by dividing the capacity in gpm (Column B) for each meter size (Column A) by the capacity in gpm for the 3/4"
meter (Column B, Line 2). Five-eighths inch meters are presumed to have the same ratio as 3/4" meters. Meter
counts (Column D) at each size are multiplied by the capacity ratio (Column C) to arrive at the total number of
equivalent meters, shown in Column E.
Table 5-8: Equivalent Meters
5.4.2. Fire Protection Capacity
Water systems provide two types of fire protection: public fire protection for firefighting (i.e., fire hydrants) and
private fire protection (i.e., fire lines for private structures with sprinkler systems for fire suppression and private
fire hydrants). Raftelis performed a fire demand analysis to determine the share of fire protection costs allocated
to public versus private fire protection. The City provided Raftelis with a count of fire hydrants. The number of
private fire connections is shown in Table 3-4.
Table 5-9 shows the calculation of equivalent fire demand associated with public hydrants and private fire lines.
Each connection size has a fire flow demand factor similar to the hydraulic capacity factor of a water meter.
The diameter of the connection (in inches) is raised to the 2.63 power to determine the relative fire flow capacity
factor (Column A). The equivalent capacity ratio (Column B) takes the relative flow capacity factor at each fire
line size divided by the 2-inch flow capacity (Line 1, Column A) to establish each connection on an equivalent
basis. The equivalent capacity ratio is multiplied by the number of hydrants (Column C) or connections
(Column D) at each size and summed to calculate the equivalent capacity of hydrants (Column C, Line 14) and
connections (Column D, Line 14). Line 9 shows the proportional share of equivalent fire connections between
public (Column C) and private (Column D).
No Meter Capacity AWWA No. of Equivalent
Size (gpm)Ratio Meters Meters
(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)
1 5/8"20 1.00 750 750
2 3/4"30 1.00 4,280 4,280
3 1"50 1.67 5,569 9,282
4 1-1/2"100 3.33 2,750 9,167
5 2"160 5.33 934 4,981
6 3"300 10.00 91 910
7 4"500 16.67 42 700
8 6"1000 33.33 25 833
9 8"1600 53.33 4 213
10 10"2400 80.00 0 0
11 Total 14,445 31,116
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 34
Table 5-9: Equivalent Fire Connections
Table 5-10 shows the max day and max hour extra capacity requirements based on fire flow information
provided by the City’s engineer. The information in Table 5-9 and Table 5-10 is used to determine the amount
of max day and max hour demand due to fire flow. The flow rates (Column A) and durations (Column B) are
converted to hcf per day to determine max day and max hour requirements.
Table 5-10: Fire Service Share of Peaking Requirements
5.4.3. Unit Costs of Service
Customer class demands vary depending on their respective usage characteristics. For example, the demand
characteristics of a single-family residential customer will differ from the demand characteristics of an irrigation
customer. Peak demands are a key difference in usage characteristics of customer classes. The concept of
proportionality requires that cost allocations consider both the average quantity of water consumed (base
demand) and the peak rate at which it is consumed (peak demands). The use of peak demands in the cost
allocation process is consistent with cost-of-service principles because a water system is designed, constructed,
and operated to meet peak demands. These additional costs must be allocated to customer classes in proportion
to their peak usage characteristics.
No Fire Line Relative Flow Equivalent Capacity Public Fire Private Fire
Size Capacity Ratio Hydrants Connections
(A)(B)(C)(D)
1 5/8"1.00 1.00 0 1
2 3/4"1.00 1.00 0 0
3 1"1.00 1.00 0 2
4 1-1/2"1.00 1.00 0 2
5 2"1.00 1.00 0 92
6 3"2.90 2.90 0 7
7 4"6.19 6.19 0 189
8 6"17.98 17.98 0 120
9 8"38.32 38.32 0 30
10 10"68.91 68.91 0 4
11 Hydrants-4"6.19 6.19 472 0
12 Hydrants-6"17.98 17.98 1,056 0
13 Total 1,528 447
14 Equivalent Connections 21,910 4,870
15 Proportional Share 82%18%
Max. Fire Flow Duration Max DayFire Flow Max HourFire Flow
(gpm)(hours)(hcf)(hcf)
(A)(B)(C)(D)
Residential 1,500 2 241 2,888
Commercial 3,500 3 842 6,738
Total 1,083 9,626
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 35
In allocating the costs of service, the industry standard, as promulgated by AWWA’s M1 Manual, is to group
customers with similar system needs and demands into customer classes. Rates are then developed for each
customer class. A customer class consists of a group of customers with common characteristics who share
responsibility for certain costs incurred by the utility. Joint costs are proportionately shared among all customers
in the system based on their service requirements. Residential customers are homogeneous with similar usage
characteristics compared to non-residential customers that vary significantly in size and overall demand.
Therefore, it is typical to bill residential customers based on tiers and have uniform rates for non-residential
customers.
To define the peaking for customers we need to review their use patterns and identify the tiers so the appropriate
peaking factors for those tiers can be determined and used to calculate rates. The revised residential tiers are
defined based on essential indoor water use for Tier 1. The Tier 1 is based on the California water efficiency
target of 50 gallons per capita day (gpcd). Tier 2 is intended to provide for reasonable outdoor water use and is
based on the average use per account in the highest summer month. Tier 3 captures use over this amount.
The residential density for single-family residential customers in the City is just over 3; however, typical families
with two adults and two kids represent a family of four. Using the standard 50 gpcd gives 8 hcf per mo of
internal usage. Similarly, multi-family density in the City is just over 2.5 persons per household, using a density
of 3 ensures adequate use and results in a first tier of 6 hcf/mo. Since multi-family does not have irrigation use,
we only set up multi-family for two tiers. The tiers for single-family residential customers are shown in
Table 5-11.
Table 5-11: Proposed Single Family Tier Definitions
The max day peaking factors for these two classes, along with the peaking factors for the other classes in the
City based on their average and peak monthly use, are shown below in Table 5-12. It should be noted that, in
the absence of daily data, we are using monthly data as a proxy for the max day data for different classes. In
our opinion, it is better to use this data than not use any peaking data at all to allocate costs. Peaking allocates
costs more in proportion to the cost of providing service.
Table 5-12: Calculation of Max Day Factor
Tier Definition Basis
Tier 1 0 - 8 hcf/mo Reflects the California State water efficiency target of 50 gpcd and
approximately 4 persons per household.
Tier 2 9 - 26 hcf/mo Captures use between Tiers 1 and 3.
Tier 3 > 26 hcf/mo Captures use above the highest average summer month.
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Total Max Avg MM/AM
Residential
Tier 1: 0-8 86,039 86,022 85,011 84,871 83,377 81,425 77,641 72,026 75,180 79,810 83,852 85,833 981,087 86,039 81,757 1.05
Tier 2: 9-26 119,469 117,463 108,304 105,335 91,155 77,446 57,882 42,855 53,073 68,645 95,289 113,211 1,050,127 119,469 87,511 1.37
Tier 3: >26 90,161 91,077 72,882 70,737 47,336 38,559 21,952 15,922 22,640 27,527 55,510 71,866 626,169 91,077 52,181 1.75
MultiFamily
6 hcf/du 44,792 45,367 45,046 45,154 44,139 43,259 42,818 40,479 41,804 42,689 43,859 44,955 524,361 45,367 43,697 1.04
> 6 hcf/du 26,163 28,115 25,337 25,362 22,272 20,322 18,226 13,061 15,582 17,821 21,378 25,720 259,359 28,115 21,613 1.30
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
All 40,528 42,969 38,999 36,410 28,047 23,377 18,049 12,499 14,521 19,091 31,724 40,153 346,367 42,969 28,864 1.49
Commercial
All 86,401 90,374 86,929 87,917 74,992 67,567 63,143 53,587 73,402 78,774 87,613 87,312 938,011 90,374 78,168 1.16
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 36
Table 5-7 shows the costs associated with different cost causation parameters such as supply, peaking, meters,
customer service, etc. To assign these costs appropriately, we need to identify the units of service associated
with each customer class. The units of service are the average demand, peak demand, and number of customers.
The end goal of a cost-of-service analysis is to proportionately distribute the revenue requirement to each
customer class. Raftelis calculated unit costs for each cost component by assessing the total water demand,
meter count, or equivalent service units. Table 5-13 shows the units of service for each customer class and tier.
Column A shows the projected test year annual usage by customer class and tier. Column B shows the average
daily use, which is the annual use divided by 365 days.
Max day and max hour extra capacity requirements for different customer classes are derived from the use data
provided by the City and are used to allocate peaking costs based on customer class-specific water use patterns
during peak demand periods. Max Day Total Capacity (Column D) is the Average Daily Use (Column B)
multiplied by the Max Day Capacity Factor (Column C). Max Day Extra Capacity (Column E) is the difference
between the Max Day Total Capacity (Column D) and the Average Daily Use (Column B). Max Hour Total
Capacity (Column G) is the Average Daily Use (Column B) multiplied by the Max Hour Capacity Factor
(Column F). Max Hour Extra Capacity (Column H) is the difference between the Max Hour Total Capacity
(Column G) and the Max Day Total Capacity (Column D).
Line 11 in Table 5-13, shows public fire. Public fire Max Day Total Capacity is equal to Max Day Fire Flow
(Table 5-10, Column C) multiplied by public fire’s proportional share of fire connections (Table 5-9, Column C,
Line 15). Public fire Max Day Extra Capacity is the same as its total capacity. Public fire Max Hour Total
Capacity is equal to Max Hour Fire Flow (Table 5-10, Column D) multiplied by public fire’s proportional share
of fire connections (Table 5-9, Column C, Line 15). Public fire Max Hour Extra Capacity is its Max Hour Total
Capacity less its Max Day Total Capacity. Max day and max hour factors for private fire are calculated similarly
using its proportional share of connections (Table 5-9, Column D, Line 15). Line 13 shows the total extra
capacity without fire. Line 13, Column K shows the total number of customers by assigning only 20% of the
private accounts to cover some billing costs to this class for customer service but not the full cost since the
private fire line is not issued a separate bill.
Table 5-13: Units of Service
Max Day Max Hour
Customer
Annual
Use
Average
Daily Use
Peaking
Factor
Total
Capacity
Extra
Capacity
Peaking
Factor
Total
Capacity
Extra
Capacity
Number of
Equiv.
Equiv. Fire
Lines / Number of
No Class (hcf)(hcf/day)(hcf/day)(hcf/day)(hcf/day)(hcf/day)Meters Devices Customers
(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)(F)(G)(H)(I)(J)(K)
1 Residential 3,035,061 8,315 11,154 2,839 15,283 4,129 22,756 12,016
2 Tier 1: 0-8 1,120,523 3,070 1.05 3,223 153 1.44 4,417 1,193
3 Tier 2: 9-26 1,199,375 3,286 1.37 4,502 1,216 1.88 6,168 1,666
4 Tier 3: >26 715,163 1,959 1.75 3,429 1,470 2.40 4,698 1,269
5 MultiFamily 804,836 3,835 1,199
6 6 hcf/du 538,489 1,475 1.04 1,534 59 1.42 2,102 568
7 > 6 hcf/du 266,347 730 1.30 949 219 1.78 1,300 351
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer 1,566 381
8 All 437,584 1,199 1.49 1,786 588 2.04 2,448 661
Commercial 2,960 849
9 All 993,957 2,723 1.16 3,148 425 1.58 4,314 1,165
10 Private Fire 197 197 1,751 1,554 4,870 447
11 Public Fire 886 886 7,875 6,989
12 Total 5,271,438 14,442 5,212 35,072 15,417 31,116 4,870 14,892
13 Total w/o Fire 4,129 6,875 14,534
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 37
Table 5-14 shows the total adjusted cost of service. The adjusted net revenue requirements (Table 5-7, Line 9)
are further adjusted for public and private fire peaking impacts and for base-delivery costs. Note that the
reallocation results in a shifting of costs between cost causation components but does not change the total rate
revenue requirement.
Table 5-14: Total Adjusted Cost-of-Service
Reallocation of Public Fire Costs: Public fire protection represents a common benefit. Therefore, all
public fire protection costs are reallocated to the Meters cost causation component to be recovered from
all metered connections. Public fire’s proportion of total max day costs are determined based on the
ratio of public fire Max Day Extra Capacity (Table 5-13, Column E, Line 10) to Total System Extra
Capacity (Table 5-13, Column E, Line 12). Public fire’s proportion of max hour costs are determined
based on the ratio of public fire Max Hour Extra Capacity (Table 5-13, Column H, Line 10) to Total
System Extra Capacity (Table 5-13, Column H, Line 12). Line 2 of Table 5-14 shows that public fire
max day and max hour costs, as well as direct public fire costs, are allocated to the meter component
since public fire protection is a fixed cost of the system.
Reallocation of Private Fire Costs: Private fire’s share of max day and max hour demand are
calculated similarly to public fire. Line 3 of Table 5-14 shows the allocation of peaking costs to the
private fire component.
Reallocation of Peaking Costs: Peaking costs represent the capacity of the system to meet peak
demands. A portion of the peaking costs are assigned to meters to pass on capacity costs to meters. To
maintain the current level of revenue stability 42 percent of Max Day and Max Hour costs are assigned
to the Meter cost center.
The total adjusted cost of service for the test year is shown in Line 7 of Table 5-14, and is the sum of Lines 4
through 6. This represents the amount that must be recovered by the City’s fixed charges and volumetric rates
in the test year. The adjusted cost-of-service allocations to each cost-causation component are used to calculate
the City’s FY 2026 proposed water rates.
Table 5-15 divides the adjusted cost-of-service (Table 5-14, Line 7) by the respective units of service (Table 5-13)
for each cost component to determine the unit cost for each component
No Total Supply
Base-
Delivery Max Day Max Hour Meters Public Fire
Private
Fire Billing
1 Adjusted Net Rev Req $20,902,119 $7,983,488 $5,132,939 $4,157,680 $1,228,944 $27,717 $24,176 $0 $2,347,175
2 Reallocate Public Fire $0 $0 $0 ($706,686) ($557,119) $1,287,981 ($24,176) $0 $0
3 Reallocate Private Fire $0 $0 $0 ($157,084) ($123,838) $0 $0 $280,923 $0
4 Subtotal After Fire Reallocation $20,902,119 $7,983,488 $5,132,939 $3,293,910 $547,987 $1,315,698 $0 $280,923 $2,347,175
5 Reallocation - Max Day $0 $0 $0 ($1,383,442) $0 $1,383,442 $0 $0 $0
6 Reallocation - Max Hour $0 $0 $0 $0 ($230,155) $230,155 $0 $0 $0
7 Adjusted Cost of Service $20,902,119 $7,983,488 $5,132,939 $1,910,468 $317,833 $2,929,294 $0 $280,923 $2,347,175
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 38
Table 5-15: Unit Costs of Service
Total Supply
Base-
Delivery Max Day Max Hour Meters Billing
Private
Fire
Cost of Service $20,902,119 $7,983,488 $5,132,939 $1,910,468 $317,833 $2,929,294 $2,347,175 $280,923
Units of Service 5,271,438 5,271,438 4,129 6,875 31,116 14,534 4,870
hcf hcf hcf/day hcf/hr Eq Mtrs Acts Eq lines
Unit Cost $1.51 $0.97 $462.64 $46.23 $94.14 $161.49 $57.68
$/hcf $/hcf $/hcf/day $/hcf/day $/EM-yr $/yr/act $/EL-yr
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 39
6. Proposed Water Rates and
Charges
The City’s water service fees are comprised of two parts: a bi-monthly service charge and a volumetric charge.
The bi-monthly service charge is a fixed charge based on the size of meter serving a property. The service charge
has been calculated to recover the City’s fixed costs, such as the costs of billing and collection, customer service,
meter reading, meter maintenance, as well as a portion of the fixed capacity costs associated with meeting peak
demands. The volumetric charge has been calculated to recover the balance of remaining costs.
6.1. Proposed Rate Structure Change
Raftelis worked closely with City staff to evaluate potential changes to the existing rate structure. Different rate
structures promote varying policy objectives. Therefore, it is critical for a public water utility to implement a
rate structure that advances its agency-specific policy priorities.
The City will be switching to monthly billing beginning in January 2026, which will provide more timely
consumption and associated billed amounts information. This may help customers adjust water use patterns.
Therefore, the proposed service charge is calculated on a monthly basis.
Additionally, the City sought to simplify its volumetric rate structure for single family customers. The current
structure has different tier breakpoints based on meter size and season. The proposed structure uses the same
tier structure for all single-family customers. Additionally, the multifamily tier breakpoints have been adjusted
to reflect monthly billing.
The revised residential tiers were discussed in 5.4.3. Multifamily customer tiers are based on use per dwelling
unit. Currently, the first tier captures use up to 12 hcf bi-monthly per dwelling unit (or 6 hcf monthly per
dwelling unit). The proposed first tier remains unchanged.
6.2. Proposed Monthly Service Charge
From the unit costs in Table 5-15, the proposed fixed monthly service charges are determined for each meter
size. Table 6-1 shows the derivation of the monthly service charge. The Billing component (Column B) is equal
to the Billing unit rate shown in Table 5-15, divided by 12 bills per year. As the cost of issuing a bill does not
vary by meter size, it remains constant for all meter sizes. The Meter component (Column C) is the Equivalent
Meters unit rate shown in Table 5-15, divided by 12. For meters larger than 3/4", this unit rate is multiplied by
the meter ratio (Table 5-8, Column C) to derive the meter capacity cost associated with those larger meter sizes.
The total proposed monthly service charge (Column D) is the sum of Columns B and C. The current charge,
on a monthly basis, is shown in Column E for comparison.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 40
Table 6-1: Monthly Service Charge Derivation
Table 6-2 shows the derivation of the monthly private fire line charge. The Billing component (Column B)
reflects that the City incurs some customer service costs related to private fire lines. The Fireline component
(Column C) is the Private Fire unit rate shown in Table 5-15, divided by 12. For fire lines larger than 2", this
unit rate is multiplied by the fire capacity ratio (Table 5-9, Column B) to derive the fireline capacity cost
associated with those larger lines. The total proposed monthly private fire charge (Column D) is the sum of
Columns B and C. The current charge, on a monthly basis, is shown in Column E for comparison.
Table 6-2: Monthly Private Fire Line Charge Derivation
6.3. Commodity Rates
The following subsection describes the derivation of volumetric rates for each customer class and tier. The
volumetric rates are designed to recover the revenue requirements for the following cost causation components,
Supply, Base, and Max Day and Max Hour (collectively referred to as Peaking). These three cost-causation
components generally vary with the amount of water used and are recovered by dollar per hcf rates. The revenue
requirement and units of service in FY 2026 for each are shown in Table 5-15. Note that the Peaking revenue
requirement is the sum of the Max Day and Max Hour revenue requirements. The remainder of this subsection
Meter Billing Meter Total Current
No Size $/bill $/mtr/mo $/mo $/mo
(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)
1 5/8"$13.46 $7.85 $21.31 $19.90
2 3/4"$13.46 $7.85 $21.31 $21.26
3 1"$13.46 $13.08 $26.54 $23.98
4 1-1/2"$13.46 $26.15 $39.61 $30.78
5 2"$13.46 $41.84 $55.30 $38.94
6 3"$13.46 $78.45 $91.91 $57.98
7 4"$13.46 $130.75 $144.21 $85.19
8 6"$13.46 $261.50 $274.96 $166.80
9 8"$13.46 $418.40 $431.86 $262.01
10 10"$13.46 $627.60 $641.06 $398.04
Line Billing Fireline Total Current
No Size $/bill $/line/mo $/mo $/mo
(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)
1 5/8"$2.69 $4.81 $7.50 $5.78
2 3/4"$2.69 $4.81 $7.50 $5.78
3 1"$2.69 $4.81 $7.50 $5.78
4 1-1/2"$2.69 $4.81 $7.50 $5.78
5 2"$2.69 $4.81 $7.50 $5.78
6 3"$2.69 $13.96 $16.66 $0.00
7 4"$2.69 $29.75 $32.45 $11.55
8 6"$2.69 $86.43 $89.13 $17.32
9 8"$2.69 $184.19 $186.89 $23.09
10 10"$2.69 $331.24 $333.93 $28.88
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 41
details the derivation of unit costs by customer class and tier and then the summation of the unit costs of the
three cost causation components to determine the proposed volumetric rates.
6.3.1. Supply Unit Cost
Supply costs are costs related to the cost of producing water. While the City incurs higher unit costs for water
use over the allotment, based on discussions with City staff, we are using the average supply unit cost from
Table 5-15 for all tiers and classes.
6.3.2. Base-Delivery Unit Cost
The base-delivery cost-causation component pertains to the costs to treat and deliver water under average daily
demand conditions. Since the base cost-causation component is designed to recover costs incurred to meet
average day demands, the base-delivery unit cost is uniform for all units of water, regardless of customer class
or tier. The Base-Delivery unit cost is shown in Table 5-15.
6.3.3. Peaking Unit Cost
The peaking cost-causation component is designed to recover costs incurred to meet customer peak demands
in excess of average daily demand. Total peaking costs are comprised of max day and max hour costs. The
peaking costs are distributed to each tier or class using peaking factors derived for each class and tier based on
the City’s customer class use data.
Table 6-3 shows the derivation of peaking unit costs for each customer class and tier. The peaking costs
(Column D) are the sum of the max day costs (Column B) and max hour costs (Column D). Max Day costs by
tier or class are the max day unit cost from Table 5-15 multiplied by the extra-capacity costs (Column E) of
Table 5-13 for each tier or class. The Max Hour costs by tier or class are the max hour unit cost from Table 5-15
multiplied by the extra-capacity costs (Column H) of Table 5-13 for each tier or class. The annual use
(Column A) comes from Table 5-13, Column A. The unit cost for each class and tier is the Peaking Cost
(Column D) divided by the annual use (Column A). The total max day and max hour peaking costs match the
totals shown for max day and max hour in Table 5-15.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 42
Table 6-3: Derivation of Peaking Unit Costs
6.3.4. Derivation of Proposed FY 2026 Volumetric Charge Rates
To determine proposed FY 2026 volumetric charge rates, the Supply, Base, and Peaking unit costs are summed
for each customer class and tier. The calculation of FY 2026 volumetric charge rates is shown below in
Table 6-4. The total proposed volumetric charge is the sum of the components and is rounded up to the nearest
penny to ensure adequate cost recovery.
Table 6-4: Derivation of FY 2026 Volumetric Charge Rates ($/hcf)
Customer Class Hcf/yr Max Day Max Hour Total Unit Cost
(A)(B)(C)(D)(E)
Residential
Tier 1: 0-8 1,120,523 $71,013 $55,165 $126,178 $0.11
Tier 2: 9-26 1,199,375 $562,480 $77,042 $639,522 $0.53
Tier 3: >26 715,163 $679,855 $58,681 $738,535 $1.03
MultiFamily
6 hcf/du/mo 538,489 $27,302 $26,258 $53,560 $0.10
> 6 hcf/du/mo 266,347 $101,279 $16,235 $117,514 $0.44
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
All 437,584 $271,805 $30,571 $302,377 $0.69
Commercial
All 993,957 $196,734 $53,881 $250,615 $0.25
Total 5,271,438 $1,910,468 $317,833 $2,228,300
Customer Class Supply Base Peaking Total Current*
Residential
Tier 1: 0-8 $1.51 $0.97 $0.11 $2.61 $2.39
Tier 2: 9-26 $1.51 $0.97 $0.53 $3.03 $2.98
Tier 3: >26 $1.51 $0.97 $1.03 $3.53 $3.07
$3.83
MultiFamily
6 hcf/du $1.51 $0.97 $0.10 $2.59 $2.18
> 6 hcf/du $1.51 $0.97 $0.44 $2.93 $2.43
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
All $1.51 $0.97 $0.69 $3.18 $2.83
Commercial
All $1.51 $0.97 $0.25 $2.75 $2.32
* Tier breakpoints for residential vary by meter size and season.
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 43
6.4. Proposed 5-Year Water Rate Schedule
Table 6-5 shows the proposed 5-year schedule of fixed water charges. Table 6-6 shows the proposed 5-year
schedule of volumetric water rates. The FY 2026 column reflects the cost-of-service analysis. Rates for FY 2027
and beyond equal the prior year rates multiplied by the revenue adjustment. Rates are rounded up to the nearest
penny to ensure revenue sufficiency.
Table 6-5: Proposed 5-Year Fixed Water Charges Schedule, $/mo.
Current FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Effective Date Jan 1, 2026 Jan 1, 2027 Jan 1, 2028 Jan 1, 2029 Jan 1, 2030
Revenue Adjustment 12.0%10.0%6.0%6.0%
Monthly Fixed Charge, $/mo
Meter Size
5/8"$19.90 $21.31 $23.87 $26.26 $27.84 $29.52
3/4"$21.26 $21.31 $23.87 $26.26 $27.84 $29.52
1"$23.98 $26.54 $29.73 $32.71 $34.68 $36.77
1-1/2"$30.78 $39.61 $44.37 $48.81 $51.74 $54.85
2"$38.94 $55.30 $61.94 $68.14 $72.23 $76.57
3"$57.98 $91.91 $102.94 $113.24 $120.04 $127.25
4"$85.19 $144.21 $161.52 $177.68 $188.35 $199.66
6"$166.80 $274.96 $307.96 $338.76 $359.09 $380.64
8"$262.01 $431.86 $483.69 $532.06 $563.99 $597.83
10"$398.04 $641.06 $717.99 $789.79 $837.18 $887.42
Monthly Private Fireline Charge, $/mo
Fireline Size
5/8"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
3/4"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
1"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
1-1/2"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
2"$5.78 $7.50 $8.40 $9.24 $9.80 $10.39
3"$0.00 $16.66 $18.66 $20.53 $21.77 $23.08
4"$11.55 $32.45 $36.35 $39.99 $42.39 $44.94
6"$17.32 $89.13 $99.83 $109.82 $116.41 $123.40
8"$23.09 $186.89 $209.32 $230.26 $244.08 $258.73
10"$28.88 $333.93 $374.01 $411.42 $436.11 $462.28
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 44
Table 6-6: Proposed 5-Year Volumetric Water Rate Schedule, $/hcf
6.5. Largest 10% of Users
Recent regulatory changes detailed in AB 755 passed in 2023 and codified in Water Code, §§ 390 & 390.1
require us to identify the costs to serve the largest 10 percent of the users in the City. Proposition 218 requires
rates that allocate costs of service proportionately, not special rates for the top 10% of consumers regardless of
other factors.
In FY 2025, the City had 14,321 accounts; the top 10% of users represent 1,432 accounts and approximately
49.2% of total annual water use. These large users are primarily non-residential and multi-family accounts. As
detailed previously in the report, the City sells water from both local sources and purchased water. All users
within the City pay a volumetric rate based on their water consumption. It is our professional judgement that
the existing rate structure is an efficient and fair way to allocate the City’s costs among those who create those
costs. All water customers in the City’s system pay rates that allocate costs of service proportionately to the
amount of water usage by the customer, resulting in larger bills for higher use.
Current Proposed FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Effective Date Jan 1, 2026 Jan 1, 2027 Jan 1, 2028 Jan 1, 2029 Jan 1, 2030
Revenue Adjustment 12.0%10.0%6.0%6.0%
Residential
Tier 1 $2.39 Tier 1: 0-8 $2.61 $2.93 $3.23 $3.43 $3.64
Tier 2 $2.98 Tier 2: 9-26 $3.03 $3.40 $3.74 $3.97 $4.21
Tier 3 $3.07 Tier 3: >26 $3.53 $3.96 $4.36 $4.63 $4.91
Tier 4 $3.83
MultiFamily
12 hcf/du $2.18 6 hcf/du/mo $2.59 $2.91 $3.21 $3.41 $3.62
> 12 hcf/du $2.43 > 6 hcf/du/mo $2.93 $3.29 $3.62 $3.84 $4.08
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
All $2.83 All $3.18 $3.57 $3.93 $4.17 $4.43
Commercial
All $2.32 All $2.75 $3.08 $3.39 $3.60 $3.82
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 45
7. Drought Rates
As part of the study, Raftelis calculated a demand reduction surcharge (i.e., drought rate or drought surcharge)
to recover the revenue shortfall that occurs because of demand reduction during water shortage situations.
A drought surcharge may be imposed during times of a declared drought when a certain level of reduction from
the base usage has been mandated. A drought surcharge is charged on each unit of water used and is calculated
to recover costs resulting from a loss of volumetric revenue due to reduced water use. The amount of the drought
surcharge at different levels of usage reduction is based upon the City’s projected revenue shortfall, adjusted for
changes in costs.
To determine the demand reduction surcharge, the first step is to project the water demand reduction for each
customer class under different levels of shortage. Table 7-1 shows the projected water demand for each customer
class and tier at different levels of reduction. Raftelis analyzed individual customer usage data, assuming that
customers using more water are expected to reduce more since they have more discretionary water use. The
analysis calculates the increase in commodity rates that need to be applied to all usage, including the tiers, at
each percentage reduction in usage. Note that the reduction achieved under each drought stage is lower than
the maximum targeted at each level but falls near or within each range.
Table 7-1: Project Water Demand by Percent Usage Reduction
The next step is to estimate the water supply cost savings that result when there is a reduction in demand. For
this study, Raftelis presumed that the safe yield for the basin would be reduced starting in drought stage 2 and
that City’s allocated portions would reduce by the same percentage amount. The variable costs associated with
each supply are used to determine the cost savings. Almost all other costs are fixed; therefore, no other costs
are included in the analysis. Table 7-2 shows the estimated cost savings in the water supply costs for each stage
due to the reduction in usage. The total supply assumes a 7.5 percent water loss from the water usage shown in
Table 7-1.
Usage Data
(kgal)
Monthly
Tier
Proposed
Rates FY 2026 % Reduction
0 - 10%
Reduction % Reduction
10 - 20%
Reduction % Reduction
20 - 30%
Reduction % Reduction
30 - 40%
Reduction % Reduction
40 - 50%
Reduction
Residential
Tier 1 8 $2.61 1,120,523 -4.0%1,075,702 -7.0%1,042,086 -10.0%1,008,471 -15.0%952,445 -24.0%851,598
Tier 2 18 $3.03 1,199,375 -10.0%1,079,438 -18.0%983,488 -30.0%839,563 -40.0%719,625 -50.0%599,688
Tier 3 > 26 $3.53 715,163 -18.0%586,433 -40.0%429,098 -60.0%286,065 -80.0%143,033 -90.0%71,516
Subtotal Residential 3,035,061 -9.7%2,741,573 -19.1%2,454,672 -29.7%2,134,099 -40.2%1,815,102 -49.8%1,522,801
Multi-Family
Tier 1 6 hcf/du $2.59 538,489 -4.0%516,950 -5.0%511,565 -7.0%500,795 -10.0%484,640 -10.0%851,598
Tier 2 > 6 hcf/du $2.93 266,347 -10.0%239,712 -12.0%234,385 -25.0%199,760 -40.0%159,808 -50.0%599,688
Governmental, Institution, & Irrigation Customer
$3.18 437,584 -5.0%415,705 -10.0%393,826 -15.0%371,946 -20.0%350,067 -25.0%851,598
Commercial
$2.75 993,957 -5.0%944,259 -10.0%894,561 -15.0%844,864 -20.0%795,166 -25.0%851,598
Total Non-Single Family 2,236,377 -5.4%2,116,626 -9.0%2,034,337 -14.3%1,917,365 -20.0%1,789,681 -24.4%1,691,470
Total Potable Water (hcf)5,271,438 4,858,199 4,489,009 4,051,464 3,604,784 3,214,271
% Total Reduction -7.8%-14.8%-23.1%-31.6%-39.0%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 46
Table 7-2: Estimated Cost Savings by Percent Usage Reduction
The final step is to calculate the drought surcharge, shown in Table 7-3. First, the projected potable water
revenue is calculated by multiplying the demand projections from Table 7-1 for each level of reduction in use
and the proposed water rates in FY 2026. The revenue shortfall is determined by comparing this revenue for
each reduction level with the FY 2026 revenues. Next, we add the estimated cost savings from Table 7-2 for
each reduction level. The net revenue is the sum of the revenue shortfall and cost savings. The percent revenue
shortfall is then shortfall divided by the projected variable revenue. The percentages shown will be applied to
all water usage rates in place through the duration of the shortage.
Table 7-3: Drought Surcharge by Percent Usage Reduction
FY 2026
0 - 10%
Reduction
10 - 20%
Reduction
20 - 30%
Reduction
30 - 40%
Reduction
40 - 50%
Reduction
Safe Yield Drought Presumption (AF)160,000 160,000 150,000 140,000 140,000 130,000
SUPPLY (hcf)
Raymond Basin 1,263,240 1,263,240 1,192,946 1,113,416 1,113,416 1,033,886
Main San Gabriel Basin (within allotment)2,949,032 2,949,032 2,764,718 2,580,403 2,580,403 2,396,089
Main San Gabriel Basin (over allotment)1,486,497 1,039,835 895,319 686,142 203,244 44,913
Total Potable Supply 5,698,769 5,252,107 4,852,983 4,379,961 3,897,063 3,474,888
SUPPLY (AF)
Raymond Basin 2,900 2,900 2,738 2,556 2,556 2,373
Main San Gabriel Basin (within allotment)6,770 6,770 6,346 5,923 5,923 5,500
Main San Gabriel Basin (over allotment)3,412 2,387 2,055 1,575 467 103
Total Potable Supply 13,082 12,056 11,140 10,054 8,946 7,977
Variable Cost ($/AF)
Raymond Basin $307.19 $307.19 $307.19 $307.19 $307.19 $307.19
Main San Gabriel Basin (within allotment)$307.19 $307.19 $307.19 $307.19 $307.19 $307.19
Main San Gabriel Basin (over allotment)$1,265.00 $1,265.00 $1,265.00 $1,265.00 $1,265.00 $1,265.00
TOTAL VARIABLE COSTS $7,286,924 $5,989,831 $5,390,641 $4,597,170 $3,194,913 $2,549,091
Cost Savings $1,297,092 $1,896,283 $2,689,753 $4,092,011 $4,737,833
2026
0 - 10%
Reduction
10 - 20%
Reduction
20 - 30%
Reduction
30 - 40%
Reduction
40 - 50%
Reduction
Projected Variable Revenue $15,383,179 $14,108,300 $12,938,639 $11,574,314 $10,194,625 $9,031,266
Revenue Shortfall ($1,274,880)($2,444,540)($3,808,865)($5,188,554)($6,351,913)
Cost Savings $1,297,092 $1,896,283 $2,689,753 $4,092,011 $4,737,833
Net Revenue to be Recovered $22,213 ($548,258)($1,119,112)($1,096,543)($1,614,080)
% Revenue Shortfall 0%4%10%11%18%
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 47
8. Wastewater Financial Plan
This section describes the assumptions used in projecting wastewater enterprise operating and capital expenses
as well as reserve and debt coverage requirements for the period FY 2026 – FY 2034. These assumptions
determine the overall revenue adjustments and total amount of revenue required from rates. The revenue covers
operating and maintenance (O&M) and capital expenses as well as reserve funding. Revenue adjustments
represent the average rate increase for the City as a whole; rate changes for individual customers will depend
on the cost-of-service analysis described in the following chapter.
Financial plan assumptions were provided by and discussed in detail with City staff. The assumptions shown
in Table 3-8 were incorporated into the financial plan. To develop the financial plan, Raftelis projected annual
expenses and revenues, modeled reserve balances, and added planned capital expenditures. The City is not
anticipating financing any capital improvements. This section of the report provides a discussion of projected
revenue, O&M expenses, the CIP, existing debt, and reserve funding under existing rates and the revenue
adjustments needed to maintain fiscal sustainability.
8.1. Current Rate Revenue
The City’s revenues consist of rate revenues, interest earnings on cash reserves, and other miscellaneous
revenues. The rate revenue projections shown below assume that current (Table 3-2) rates are effective
throughout the study period and, therefore, represent estimated revenues in the absence of any rate adjustments.
This status quo scenario provides a baseline from which Raftelis evaluates the need for revenue adjustments.
8.1.1. Calculated Wastewater Rate Revenues
Raftelis projected wastewater rate revenues from fixed monthly charges and volumetric charges for FY 2026
through FY 2034 based on current wastewater rates, the projected number of DUs, and projected annual
commercial, government, and city account metered water.
The City collects fixed monthly charges from its customers based on the number of DUs. Table 8-1 shows
projected fixed charge revenues under current rates over the first five years of the study period. Fixed charge
revenues are calculated by the number of DUs in each year as follows based on current wastewater rates (from
Table 3-2) and the projected number of DUs (from Table 3-5).
Annual Fixed Charge Revenue = [fixed monthly rate per DU] × [Number of DUs] × [6 Bills per year]
Table 8-1: Projected Fixed Charge Revenues Under Current Wastewater Rates
Customer Class FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Single Family $1,246,874 $1,258,255 $1,269,636 $1,281,016 $1,292,510
Multi-Family Dwelling Units $920,446 $933,066 $945,686 $958,307 $970,927
Residential Sewer Only $28,170 $28,170 $28,170 $28,170 $28,170
Commercial $264,246 $267,288 $270,330 $272,696 $274,385
Government $12,167 $13,857 $13,857 $13,857 $13,857
City Accounts $3,549 $7,098 $7,098 $7,098 $7,098
Total Fixed $2,475,452 $2,507,734 $2,534,776 $2,561,143 $2,586,947
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 48
Table 8-2 shows projected Volume charge revenues under current rates over the study period. Volume charge
revenues are calculated for the non-residential customer class in each year as follows based on current
wastewater rates (Table 3-2) and projected water use (Table 3-6).
Annual Volume Charge Revenue = [rate per hcf] × [Annual Water Use in hcf]
Table 8-2: Projected Volume Charge Revenue Under Current Wastewater Rates
8.1.2. Other Revenues
Table 8-3 shows all other revenues. All FY 2026 other revenues are based on the City’s FY 2026 budget.
Additional revenues from FY 2027 and beyond were projected by Raftelis or provided by City staff. Interest
revenue is estimated beginning in FY 2026 based on estimated beginning fund balances, revenues and expenses,
and the assumed interest rate.
Table 8-3: Projected Other Wastewater Enterprise Revenues, Status Quo
8.2. Annual Expenses - Wastewater
The City’s expenses include operations and maintenance expenses, capital expenses, and transfers to the general
fund to pay a share of debt service payments for shared facilities. This section discusses the details of each of
these expenses.
8.2.1. Total Operations and Maintenance Budget
The City provided Raftelis with its wastewater enterprise budget for FY 2026. To project the City’s O&M
expenses in future years, Raftelis used the escalation percentages shown in Table 3-8. A summary of the
budgeted and projected O&M is shown in Table 8-4.
Table 8-4: Summary of Projected Wastewater Operations and Maintenance Expenses
Customer Class FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Commercial $283,704 $286,969 $290,235 $292,775 $294,590
Government $83,454 $84,937 $84,937 $84,937 $84,937
City Accounts $6,076 $12,151 $12,151 $12,151 $12,151
Total Variable $373,233 $384,057 $387,323 $389,863 $391,678
Line Item FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Miscellaneous $152,600 $33,000 $33,000 $33,000 $33,000
Interest Income $52,870 $74,687 $44,398 $37,284 $31,136
Total $205,470 $107,687 $77,398 $70,284 $64,136
Line Item FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Maintenance $1,694,600 $1,761,531 $1,831,181 $1,903,663 $1,979,095
Capital Outlay $30,000 $142,200 $140,600 $964,400 $414,067
Total $1,724,600 $1,903,731 $1,971,781 $2,868,063 $2,393,162
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 49
8.2.2. Capital Improvement Plan
Table 8-5 shows the City’s plan for waste capital improvements through FY 2030. The plan averages
$1.5 million per year.
Table 8-5: Projected Wastewater Capital Improvement Projects
8.2.3. Existing and Proposed Debt Service
Table 8-6 shows the City’s existing sewer bond. The City does not plan to issue additional debt to fund its
capital program at this time.
Table 8-6: Existing Annual Debt Service
8.3. Reserve Targets
The City maintains a wastewater operating reserve fund and a wastewater capital reserve fund.
Operating Reserve – The Operating Reserve is used primarily to meet ongoing cash flow requirements and
unexpected increases to budgeted costs. The City’s minimum reserve target is set at 25 percent (three months)
of wastewater revenues.
Capital Reserve – The Capital Reserve is used to provide funds for capital projects, cover any unexpected and
unplanned infrastructure repairs and replacements not included in the budget as well as to set aside money for
future capital projects. Therefore, the City has set a target equal to the 5-year average of cash-funded capital
projects. When a future multimillion-dollar capital project is needed, the capital reserve fund can be drawn
upon to help pay for that project. Then the reserves would build back over time.
8.4. Proposed Financial Plan and Revenue Adjustments
The proposed revenue adjustments help ensure adequate revenue to fund operating expenses, capital
expenditures, and meet reserve targets. The Financial Plan modeling assumes the first revenue adjustment
occurs on January 1, 2026. The proposed revenue adjustments would enable the City to meet operating costs,
reserve targets, and to execute the CIP shown in Table 4-6. Table 8-7 shows the proposed wastewater revenue
adjustments for the rate-setting period.
Project FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
SCADA System Upgrades $104,000 $0 $0 $0 $0
Sewer Main Replacement Program $1,404,000 $1,460,160 $843,648 $877,394 $1,216,653
Public Works Facility Improvements $0 $5,408 $5,062 $5,264 $5,475
Miscellaneous Sewer Main Repair $0 $162,240 $168,730 $175,479 $0
Sewer Easement Access Along 210 Freeway $0 $162,240 $0 $0 $0
Arboretum Sewer Project $0 $811,200 $0 $0 $0
Arcadia Wash Bridge Gurad Railing Improvement Program $0 $0 $0 $0 $182,498
Sewer Main CIPP Lining $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Total $1,508,000 $2,601,248 $1,017,439 $1,058,137 $1,404,626
Line Item FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
2020 Pension Obligation Bonds $26,858 $26,912 $26,915 $26,867 $26,870
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 50
Table 8-7: Proposed Revenue Adjustments
Table 8-8, on the following page, shows the cash flow detail over the study period for the wastewater fund
assuming the revenue adjustments shown above. Line 1 shows the projected wastewater rate-revenue under
existing rates. Line 2 shows the forecast adjusted revenue from the proposed revenue adjustments. Line 7 shows
total wastewater fund revenue including miscellaneous revenues and interest. Line 10 shows total O&M
expenses. Line 11 shows net operating revenues, or revenues less expenses, which is the result of subtracting
Line 10 from Line 7. Line 12 shows the City’s annual debt service payments. Line 13 shows the cash-funded
capital expenses. Line 14 shows the annual surplus or deficit, which is Line 11 less Line 12 less Line 13. Line 15
shows the enterprise’s balance at the start of the fiscal year. The ending fund balance in Line 16 is the beginning
balance (Line 15) plus the annual surplus or deficit (Line 14). Line 17 shows the total target reserve level.
Table 8-8: Wastewater Cashflow
Effective Date Adjustment
Jan. 1, 2026 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2027 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2028 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2029 6.0%
Jan. 1, 2030 6.0%
No Line Item FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
1 Revenue Under Existing Rates $2,848,685 $2,891,791 $2,922,100 $2,951,006 $2,978,624
2 Revenue Adjustments $85,461 $265,466 $459,670 $669,130 $894,634
3 Total Rate-Based Revenue $2,934,146 $3,157,258 $3,381,769 $3,620,137 $3,873,258
Other Revenue
4 Miscellaneous $152,600 $33,000 $33,000 $33,000 $33,000
5 Interest Income $53,734 $79,113 $53,255 $54,805 $53,984
6 Total Other Revenue $206,334 $112,113 $86,255 $87,805 $86,984
7 Total Revenues $3,140,479 $3,269,370 $3,468,024 $3,707,942 $3,960,242
O&M Expenses
8 Maintenance $1,694,600 $1,761,531 $1,831,181 $1,903,663 $1,979,095
9 Capital Outlay $30,000 $142,200 $140,600 $964,400 $414,067
10 Total O&M $1,724,600 $1,903,731 $1,971,781 $2,868,063 $2,393,162
11 Net Operating Revenues $1,415,879 $1,365,639 $1,496,243 $839,879 $1,567,080
12 Debt Service $26,858 $26,912 $26,915 $26,867 $26,870
13 Cash Funded Capital $1,508,000 $2,601,248 $1,017,439 $1,058,137 $1,404,626
14 Annual Surplus/(Deficit)($118,979)($1,262,521)$451,888 ($245,125)$135,584
15 Beginning Balance $4,705,871 $4,586,892 $3,324,371 $3,776,260 $3,531,134
16 Ending Balance $4,586,892 $3,324,371 $3,776,260 $3,531,134 $3,666,718
17 Total Target Reserves $2,390,854 $2,435,637 $2,452,649 $2,676,720 $2,557,994
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 51
Figure 8-1 through Figure 8-3 display the FY 2026 through FY 2030 Financial Plan in graphical form.
Figure 8-1 illustrates the Wastewater Financial Plan – it compares existing (solid line) and proposed revenues
(dashed line) with projected expenses (stacked columns). The expenses include O&M, capital, debt service, and
reserve funding. The green bars above the X-axis show the net cash used to build up the reserves and the bars
below the X-axis show the withdrawals from reserves to fund costs. Projected revenue from existing rates, if
continued unchanged, would not meet future projected total expenses and illustrates the need for revenue
adjustments necessary to maintain operations, accomplish the desired CIP, and to meet reserve targets.
Figure 8-1: Proposed Wastewater Financial Plan
Figure 8-2 summarizes the projected wastewater CIP and that it is funded through rate revenue. As shown,
the City does not plan to issue debt to pay for future CIP during the study period.
($2.0)
($1.0)
$0.0
$1.0
$2.0
$3.0
$4.0
$5.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Financial Plan
O&M Expenses Capital Projects Debt Service
Reserve Funding Current Revenues Proposed Revenues
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 52
Figure 8-2: Projected Wastewater Capital Plan and Funding Sources
Figure 8-3 displays the projected total wastewater enterprise yearly ending balance (blue bars). The line is the
total fund target balance. While the projected fund balance in FY 2030 is above the line, these reserves are
projected to help pay for future capital projects identified in the full study period (ending FY 2034).
Figure 8-3: Projected Wastewater Fund Ending Balance
$1.5
$2.6
$1.0 $1.1 $1.4
$0.0
$0.5
$1.0
$1.5
$2.0
$2.5
$3.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Capital Financing Plan
Rate Funded
$4.6
$3.3
$3.8 $3.5 $3.7
$0.0
$0.5
$1.0
$1.5
$2.0
$2.5
$3.0
$3.5
$4.0
$4.5
$5.0
FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Mi
l
l
i
o
n
s
Combined Ending Balance
Ending Balance Reserve Target
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 53
9. Wastewater Cost-of-Service
Analysis
A cost-of-service analysis distributes a utility’s revenue requirement (costs) to each customer class. This section
explains the details of the cost-of-service analysis conducted for the City of Arcadia for its wastewater collection-
system services to customers.
After determining a utility’s revenue requirement, the next step in a cost-of-service analysis is to functionalize
its O&M costs to the following functions:
Collection – cost of collecting wastewater and transporting it to the wastewater treatment plant
Customer – costs associated with billing and customer service
The functionalization of costs allows us to better allocate the functionalized costs to the rate components.
9.1. Revenue Requirement Determination
Table 9-1 shows the net revenue requirement from rates for FY 2026, the test year. The total revenue
requirement shown in Line 4 is equal to operating expenses (Table 8-4), debt service (Table 8-6), and capital
expenses (Table 8-5). Other operating revenues, totaled in Line 7, comprise miscellaneous revenues and interest
income (Table 8-8) and reduce the total revenue required from rates. The adjustment for cash (Line 8) is
subtracted to account for the draw from reserves. The mid-year increase (Line 9) reflects that the FY 2026
revenue adjustment occurs part way through the fiscal year.4 The revenue required from rates is equal to Lines 4
plus 7 plus 10.
Table 9-1: Revenue Requirement Determination
4 This rate adjustment is proposed to be adopted in January; thus, the revenue requirement calculation has to be adjusted
to incorporate this timing. Not adjusting these rates would result in only 6/12 of the rate adjustment being implemented
due to the six “missed” months.
No Line item Operating Capital Total
1 Operating $1,724,600 $1,724,600
2 Debt Service $26,858 $26,858
3 Cash Funded Capital $1,508,000 $1,508,000
4 Subtotal $1,724,600 $1,534,858 $3,259,458
Other Operating Revenue
5 Miscellaneous Revenue -$152,600 -$152,600
6 Interest Income -$53,734 -$53,734
7 Subtotal -$206,334 $0 -$206,334
Adjustments
8 To (From) Reserves -$118,979 -$118,979
9 Rev Reqd for Mid-year Increase $85,461 $85,461
10 Subtotal $85,461 -$118,979 -$33,518
11 Net Revenue Requirements $1,603,727 $1,415,879 $3,019,606
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 54
9.2. Functionalization of Net Revenue Requirement
Functionalizing expenses allows Raftelis to follow the principles of rate setting theory in which the end goal is
to allocate the City’s revenue requirements to cost causation components. Table 9-2 shows the functionalization
of the City’s wastewater assets. The resulting allocation of these assets is applied to capital-related costs.
Collection sewers are generally oversized for ease of maintenance and therefore charged partly to flow
(collection) and partly to customer.
Table 9-2: Functionalization of Asset Database
Table 9-3 shows the functionalization of test year O&M expenses. Capital outlay is allocated like the resulting
asset allocation.
Table 9-3: Functionalization of O&M Expenses
9.3. Allocation of Functionalized Net Revenue
Requirements to Cost Components
After functionalizing the assets and operating and maintenance expenses, the next step is to allocate the net
operating and capital-related revenue requirements to the cost components. Table 9-4 shows the net revenue
requirements (Table 9-1, Line 11) allocated to the cost components. Net O&M is allocated like Table 9-3 and
the net capital revenue requirements are allocated like Table 9-2.
Table 9-4: Allocation of Net Revenue Requirements to Cost Components
Asset Class RCLD Collection Customer
BUILDINGS $13,733 0%100%
SEWERS $3,174,828 60%40%
TRUCKS/PICKUPS $206,186 0%100%
VEHICLE EQUIPMENT $806,753 0%100%
OTHER MOBILE EQUIPMENT $20,938 0%100%
DUPLICATORS AND COPIERS $4,621 0%100%
OTHER EQUIPMENT $10,923 0%100%
SEWER PIPE $17,481,636 60%40%
Total $21,719,618 $12,393,878 $9,325,739
Allocation 100%57%43%
Line Item Test Year Collection Customer
Sewer Maintenance $1,694,600 60%40%
Capital Outlay $30,000 57%43%
Total $1,724,600 $1,033,879 $690,721
Allocation 100%60%40%
Line Item Total Collection Customer
Net O&M $1,603,727 $961,417 $642,310
Net Capital $1,415,879 $807,944 $607,935
Total $3,019,606 $1,769,361 $1,250,245
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 55
9.4. Derivation of Units of Service
9.4.1. Unit Costs of Service
Raftelis calculated unit costs for each cost component by assessing the total accounts or dwelling units, annual
metered water use, and estimated annual wastewater flows. Table 9-5 shows the units of service for the
wastewater collection system. The estimated wastewater flow is the projected water use times the return-to-
sewer factor. Single family has a lower return-to-sewer factor because of landscaping and lawn irrigation use,
which does not return to the wastewater collection system. The estimated wastewater flow for sewer-only
accounts is based on the estimated wastewater flow per single family account. Government and City Accounts
reflect all accounts being billed during the test year so that a full annual rate is calculated.
Table 9-5: Units of Service, Test Year
Table 9-6 shows the total unit cost of service on a volumetric basis. The Net Revenue Requirements shown in
the first line matches the total allocated to Flow and Customer from Table 9-4. The WW flow line repeats the
wastewater flow Table 9-5. Dividing the first line by these units results in the Unit Cost on a volumetric basis.
Table 9-6: Total Wastewater Unit Cost of Service
Customer Class
Water
(hcf)
Return to
Sewer
WW Flow
(hcf)
Accounts or
Dwellings
Residential
Single Family 3,035,061 60%1,821,037 11,066
Multi-Family Dwelling Units 804,536 90%724,082 8,169
Residential Sewer Only 0 41,142 250
Total Residential 3,839,597 2,586,261 19,484
Non-Residential
Commercial 915,173 90%823,655 782
Government 273,990 90%246,591 41
City Accounts 39,197 90%35,277 21
Total Non-Residential 1,228,360 1,105,524 844
Total 5,067,957 3,691,784 20,328
Line Item
Net Revenue Requirements $3,019,606
WW Flow (hcf)3,691,784
Unit Rate, $/WW hcf $0.82
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 56
10. Wastewater Rates
10.1. Wastewater Test Year Rate Derivation
Raftelis has calculated updated wastewater rates for the test year. First, the estimated wastewater flow for
residential and non-residential customers was multiplied by the unit rate from Table 9-6 to determine the
allocation of the net revenue requirement between residential and non-residential customers, as shown in
Table 10-1.
Table 10-1: Revenue Requirements Allocated to Customer Classes
Since residential customers are billed only a flat charge, their information is used to determine the monthly
fixed charge, as shown in Table 10-2. The revenue requirement is divided by the number of residential accounts
and by 12 months in a year to determine the test year monthly charge. Note the current monthly charge is billed
bi-monthly. The City is moving to monthly billing starting in January 2026.
Table 10-2: Derivation of Monthly Charge
Table 10-3 shows the derivation of the volumetric rate applied to non-residential customers. First the revenue
from the fixed charge is determined by multiplying the unit rate from Table 10-2 by the number of accounts
times by 12 billing periods per year. Next that fixed charge revenue is subtracted from the non-residential
revenue requirement (Table 10-1) to determine the remaining portion to be recovered from volumetric rates.
The volumetric rate is the remaining revenue divided by the metered water use.
Table 10-3: Derivation of Volumetric Charge
Customer Class WW Flow (hcf)Unit Rate ($/hcf)Total
Residential 2,586,261 $0.82 $2,115,370
Non-Residential 1,105,524 $0.82 $904,237
Total 3,691,784 $3,019,606
Customer Class Total Accounts $/act/mo
Residential $2,115,370 19,484 $9.05
Line Item
Accounts 844
Fixed Charge, $/mo $9.05
Fixed Revenue $91,614
Non-Residential Rev. Req.$904,237
Less Fixed Revenue $91,614
Remainder from Volume $812,623
Water (hcf)1,228,360
Volume Charge, $/hcf $0.67
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 57
10.2. Proposed 5-Year Wastewater Rate Schedule
Table 10-4 shows the proposed 5-year schedule of wastewater rates. Rates for FY 2026 reflect the cost-of-service
analysis. Rates for FY 2027 and beyond equal the prior year rates multiplied by the revenue adjustment. Rates
are rounded up to the nearest penny.
Table 10-4: Proposed 5-Year Wastewater Rate Schedule
Customer Class Current FY 2026 FY 2027 FY 2028 FY 2029 FY 2030
Effective Date Jan. 1, 2026 Jan. 1, 2027 Jan. 1, 2028 Jan. 1, 2029 Jan. 1, 2030
Residential (monthly)
Single Family, $/mo $9.39 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Multi-Family Dwelling Units, $/mo $9.39 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Residential Sewer Only, $/mo $9.39 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Non-Residential
Commercial, $/mo $28.17 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Government, $/mo $28.17 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
City Accounts, $/mo $28.17 $9.05 $9.60 $10.18 $10.80 $11.45
Volumetric, $/hcf $0.31 $0.67 $0.72 $0.77 $0.82 $0.87
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 58
11. Customer Impact Analysis &
Neighboring Agency Comparison
11.1. Typical Bill Comparison
11.1.1. Water
Figure 11-1 shows a comparison of a ¾” meter single-family bill at different usage levels for the proposed
FY 2026 rates versus the current rates. Note that the current bill is an average of a summer and winter bill at
the usage shown on a monthly basis.
Figure 11-1: Single Family Residential Monthly Bills, FY 2026
Figure 11-2 shows a comparison of a 1-inch commercial bill at different usage levels for the proposed FY 2026
rates versus the current rates on a monthly basis.
Very Low Low Median Average High Very High
Avg Current $27.23 $37.99 $51.12 $56.49 $71.48 $98.04
Proposed $29.14 $39.58 $54.31 $60.37 $75.52 $99.76
hcf/mo 3 7 12 14 19 27
$0.00
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
Single Family Residential Monthly Bill, 3/4" Meter
Avg Current Proposed
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 59
Figure 11-2: Commercial Monthly Bills, FY 2026
11.1.2. Wastewater
Table 11-1 shows a bill comparison for FY 2026 for residential and non-residential wastewater customers.
Table 11-1: Monthly Example Bills, FY 2026 vs Current
11.2. Neighboring Comparison
11.2.1. Water
Figure 11-3 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical single family customer (12 hcf/mo) on a ¾” meter for the
City’s proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies. Many of these agencies will be
updating their rates for FY 2026.
$26.30 $33.26
$51.82
$105.18
$302.38
$29.29 $37.54
$59.54
$122.79
$356.54
$0.00
$50.00
$100.00
$150.00
$200.00
$250.00
$300.00
$350.00
$400.00
1 hcf/mo 4 hcf/mo 12 hcf/mo 35 hcf/mo 120 hcf/mo
Commercial Monthly Bill, 1" Meter
Current Proposed
Customer Class Current FY 2026
Residential $9.39 $9.05
Non-Residential, 12 hcf/mo $31.89 $17.09
Non-Residential, 114 hcf/mo $63.51 $85.43
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 60
Figure 11-3: Neighborhood Comparison – Water, Single Family, 3/4" Meter, 12 hcf
Figure 11-4 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical commercial customer (12 hcf/mo) on a 1” meter for the
City’s proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies.
Figure 11-4: Neighborhood Comparison – Water, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf
11.2.2. Wastewater
Figure 11-5 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical single family customer (12 hcf/mo) on a ¾” meter for
the City’s proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies.
$53.88 $54.31
$69.27 $76.76 $76.94
$90.60 $94.07 $94.77
$111.56
$124.47
$-
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
$140.00
SFR Monthly Water Bill Comparison
$59.54 $62.90
$81.18 $88.33
$96.69 $100.96
$109.00 $111.40
$129.68
$145.75
$0.00
$20.00
$40.00
$60.00
$80.00
$100.00
$120.00
$140.00
$160.00
Arcadia
(Proposed)
Azusa Alhambra Monrovia El Monte Monterey
Park
Covina Sierra
Madre
Pasadena Glendora
(Zone A)
Commmercial Water Bill Comparison
City of Arcadia / Water and Wastewater Rate Study - FINAL 61
Figure 11-5: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Single Family
Figure 11-6 shows a comparison of a bill for a typical commercial customer (12 hcf/mo) for the City’s
proposed FY 2026 rates and current rates for neighboring agencies.
Figure 11-6: Neighborhood Comparison – Wastewater, Commercial, 1" Meter, 12 hcf
$9.05 $9.77
$14.96 $16.15 $17.16
$22.36 $22.46 $22.97
$0.00
$5.00
$10.00
$15.00
$20.00
$25.00
Arcadia
(Proposed)
El Monte Monrovia Pasadena Azusa Sierra
Madre
Monterey
Park
Alhambra
SFR Monthly Sewer Bill Comparison
$14.85 $17.09
$20.94 $24.43 $26.94 $27.14 $28.90
$65.23
$-
$10.00
$20.00
$30.00
$40.00
$50.00
$60.00
$70.00
El Monte Arcadia
(Proposed)
Azusa Pasadena Sierra
Madre
Alhambra Monrovia Monterey
Park
Commercial Monthly Wastewater Bill, 12 hcf