Written protests from parcel owners required
By Charles M. Kelly
The Seal Beach council voted unanimously to set July 14, 2025 as the date for the water and sewer rate hearing.
The City Council also adopted procedures for the hearing and protest requirements, as well as setting the hearing date, during the Monday, May 11, 2025 council meeting.
By state law, the council cannot raise rates if more than 50% of parcel owners submit written protests. Public Works Director Iris Lee on May 11, 2025, said prior written protests applied to the 2024 process would not be counted toward the 2025 rate hearing process. (Seal Beach officials in February 2024 voted unanimously to close the water and sewer rate hearing without voting on the proposed water and sewer rates at that time. See “Water and sewer rates on hold,” at sunnews.org.)
This was the last item on the agenda of a roughly three-hour council meeting.
City Attorney Nick Ghirelli said the hearing would have to be held at least 45 days after the city mails a notice to each identified parcel. He said only one written protested filed by an owner or a customer may be counted. “However, the council will consider all comments submitted as part of this process when making their final decision to fix the rates,” Ghirelli said.
He said written protests may be submitted by email or regular mail.
He said written protests would be accepted up to the close of the public hearing.
As for Leisure World, Ghirelli said any Leisure World resident can reach out to their Mutual or to the Golden Rain Foundation to express their opinion. Ghirelli said the Mutuals own the parcels in Leisure World.
He said Golden Rain was the customer.
“Except for the condo owners, Leisure World residents do not qualify as property owners,” Ghirelli said. “Again, the City Council will consider any comments submitted by Leisure World residents as part of the process.”
Ghirelli said at the July 14, 2025 hearing, the council will have to tabulate the protests.
He also said that by state law, the council cannot be sued for reasons that were not raised during the hearing process.
The city has scheduled two informational open houses on the rate study, both of which will take place at Fire Station 48, at 3131 N. Gate Rd., Seal Beach. The open houses will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 4, and from 10:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 14.
Water rates
“The City’s last rate adjustment and cost of service study was approved in February 2021; however, the rates are no longer sufficient to balance ongoing operating costs,” according to the staff report by Public Works Director Iris Lee.
According to the city’s consultant, inflation, aging infrastructure, water import costs, and the need to service debt have combined to make rate increases necessary.
Some residents have argued that the city is proposing significant increase on residential water rates.
The proposed water debt, according to Lee’s report, will be $2.5 million in the next fiscal year.
According to Lee’s report, there will is a proposed increase in Leisure World water rates based on two 12-inch water meters.
“The City’s engineering consultant, AKM Consultants (AKM), conducted an independent evaluation of the meter size for the Leisure World community,” Lee wrote.
“In an opinion dated April 1, 2025, AKM concluded that the two (2), existing 12-inch service meters serving Leisure World are appropriately sized to account for the community’s “peak hour and maximum day demand plus fire flow’,” Lee wrote.
“Beginning with the City’s last rate update in 2021, Leisure World’s fixed rate charge was for one(1), six-inch meter based upon an earlier analysis of Leisure World’s effective flow demand,” Lee wrote.
“However, AKM has provided a current and different analysis of the cost of providing service to the Leisure World community,” Lee wrote.
According to a table in Lee’s report, a tier one single family home would pay $5.51 per hundred cubic feet of water effective Aug. 1 of 2025. As of July 1 of 2026, that would increase to $6.40 per hundred cubic feet. By July 1, 2029, the rate would be $7.41.
Commercial water customers would start paying $5.20 per hundred cubic feet of water starting on Aug. 1, 2025. As of July 1, 2029, that rate would increase to $7.41 per hundred cubic feet.
Sewer rates
Another table in the Lee report shows the current sewer rate for a single family home is $48.04 per hundred cubic feet of water.
If the proposed rates are approved, the sewer rate for a single family home would increase to $64.37 per hundred cubic feet effective Aug. 1, 2025. As of July 1, 2029, the sewer rate for a single family home would be $104.35 per hundred cubic feet.
Sewer users are also charged fixed rate.
Leisure World residents will be charged a fixed rate and a “flat rate”.
The current Leisure World fixed charge is $1.22 and the flat rate is $2,198.06. The proposed fixed charge would be $1.63 effective Aug. 1, 2025, and the proposed flat rate would be $2,945.40 effective Aug. 1, 2025.
Prop. 218
State law, Proposition 218, requires the city to give a prior notice to the public of a hearing.
State law also regulates the protest process.
According to Lee’s report, only one protest per property parcel is allowed.
Protests must be written.
“If, according to the final tabulation, the written protests submitted against the Water Rate adjustments represent more than 50% of all the parcels in the City receiving water service, a majority protest exists, and the City Council shall not impose the Water Rate increase,” Lee wrote.
The sewer rate increase would also go forward unless more than 50% of the parcel owners submit written protests.
