Utility Bills To Go Up In Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Manhattan Beach residents and business owners will soon see higher water bills after the City Council voted this week to approve water rates.

The council unanimously approved the change on Tuesday, setting the new rates at 0.38 cents per one hundred cubic feet or 748 gallons.

That means residents could see their bi-monthly bills increase anywhere between $3.82 to $11.46, depending on water usage levels. Meanwhile, business owners could see their bill increase anywhere between $15.28 to $76.40. The increase will go into effect on July 1, according to city officials.

Manhattan Beach Utilities Manager Jeff Page told the City Council wholesale water costs have increased more than what the city projected in its 2022 water rate study.

"Due to delays in the peck reservoir treatment plant becoming operational, the city had to purchase more imported water than anticipated," Page said. "Actual water costs are higher than planned and this adjustment would help address that gap."

The rate adjustment would generate about $638,000 over the 2026 fiscal year, Page said, and would help offset what the city will spend in 2025.

"Without this adjustment, the water fund would absorb the entire cost increase, worsening the existing reserve shortfall," Page said, adding that this increase is only a temporary adjustment and that a new long-term water rate study will need to be conducted.

But Manhattan Beach residents shouldn't expect a decrease any time soon.

Despite previous rate increases, rising costs, infrastructure demands and the recent tariff increases have all required a "new road map to navigate today's financial realities," Page said.

Although the Peck Reservoir has restarted operations and could potentially save the city about a million dollars each year by reducing relianced on imported water, it'll take time to reach full potential.

"Because the treatment plan was not up and running this last year, those cost savings that were anticipated in the rates were not realized," Public Works Director Erick Lee said. "Therefore, we've got a fund issue."

Lee added that future projects will require the city to dip into the water fund and this increase, along with the study, will help them identity how to best mitigate the issue, while assessing how the increase will affect customers.