New and increased water rates, fees being proposed in Queen Creek

The Queen Creek Town Council is expected to start the clock on new water fees plus adjustments to the water rate cost of service, wastewater structure and solid waste fees.

At its Wednesday meeting, the council will vote on notices of intent to establish or adjust the rates. If approved, on Nov. 18 there will be a public hearing and council will take action on the changes.

If council approves the fees, they will become effective on Jan. 27, with the first bill reflecting the fee on March 9.

The proposed water resource fee will pay for the town’s purchases of Harquahala groundwater and the infrastructure needed to bring it to town.

As presented to council on Sept. 2, the water resource fee would be $3.07 per 1,000 gallons of water, based on metered use.

The proposal also includes a credit based on the water the town receives back through the wastewater system to offset groundwater pumping. The proposed credits would be given to residents with a combined water and wastewater town utility account.

Under the proposal, a residential customer with a combined account who uses 10,000 gallons of water a month would have a new water resource fee of $30.70, minus a $12.28 effluent credit for a total of $18.40 in the first year. Combined with a monthly $39.44 water delivery fee, the total monthly bill would be $57.86.

Customers who use 10,000 gallons a month but only have a water account with the town utility would not get the effluent credit. For them, the total monthly bill with the water delivery fee, the new water resource fee of $30.70 in year one and no credit would be $70.14 a month.

Increases to the fee will be phased in over five years.

The new water resource fee will be used to pay for 1.7 million acre-feet of Harquahala basin water that the town purchased in 2025 for a total of $285 million. An acre-foot is enough water to cover 1 acre in 1 foot of water, or about 326,000 gallons. The fee will also pay for the infrastructured needed to pump and transport the water.

At the Sept. 2 meeting, staff also presented council with cost-of-service rate adjustments to monthly water rates. Water rates were last increased by 15% in 2025, following a previous increase in 2010.

“The annual revenue base of monthly water rates is approximately $42.8 million. The water rate cost-of-service adjustments are projected to increase revenues about $4 million,” according to a staff report. “Approximately $2.4 million of the increase in revenues will come from an increase in landscape and hydrant rate adjustments.”

About $1 million in revenue will come from removing the 1,000-gallon minimum fixed charges. Other revenue increases will come from growth.

“Single-family accounts are expected to experience an overall reduction in monthly water bills,” according to town documents.

Of the three single-family tier rates, two will decrease under the new rate and one will increase. The tier 1 rate, up to 10,000 gallons, will drop from $2.04 to $1.50 per month. The tier 2 rate, between 10,000 gallons and 20,000 gallons, will decrease from $2.73 to $2.50 a month. The tier 3 rate, more than 20,000 gallons, will rise from $3.40 to $4 a month.

Uniform rates per 1,000 gallons, plus the base rate will be $1.50 for multifamily, $2.50 for non-residential, $4 for landscape and $9 for hydrants.

The council will also be considering an increase in the new development water capacity fees, which are one-time fees charged to new construction “intended to offset the cost of new water delivery infrastructure built related to growth,” a staff report stated.

Also under consideration is the establishment of a new development water resource capacity fee that will be charged to new construction “intended to offset the cost of new infrastructure built and asset purchases related to growth,” the report continued.

Customers could also see an increase in the wastewater rate cost-of-service fee. Wastewater rates for commercial users were last increased in 2015.

“Since then, the wastewater utility experienced a rate reduction in 2019, while the residential rate structure was subsequently modified in 2021 to adjust the residential cap resulting in customer savings,” the staff report stated.

The current annual revenue base of monthly wastewater rates is about $11.6 million, and the proposed wastewater cost-of-service adjustments are expected to increase revenues by about $200,000.

“Of the total increase in revenues, increases will come from multifamily and commercial structural changes,” the report continued.

Solid waste rates and fees could also increase. The rates for solid waste were last increased in 2013.

“Since the last rate adjustment, contract services for solid waste have increased significantly, necessitating solid waste fees to better align with the cost of providing the service,” the report stated.

The current annual revenue base of monthly solid waste rates is about $5.8 million.

“A 23% rate increase is projected to increase non-growth revenues of approximately $1.2 million in its first full year of implementation,” the report stated. “All solid waste accounts will receive the increases in new fees.”

The council meeting starts at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 16 at Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.