Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
This briefing covered two major items: the San Antonio Water System's (SAWS) proposed four-year rate adjustment plan and a request to waive wastewater impact fees for the Villas at Timberwood, a 75-home neighborhood in Bexar County. Council members heard presentations from SAWS and city staff, discussed affordability, capital investments, and public health concerns, and provided feedback ahead of an October 8 vote.
2005 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 in the City of San Antonio B session is called to order. Madam Clerk, please call roll. Councilmember Corr. Councilmember Mickey Rodriguez. Councilmember Villagran. Councilmember Mungia. Councilmember Castillo. Councilmember Galvan. Councilmember Alarete Gavito. Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez. Councilmember Spears. Councilmember White. Mayor Jones. Here. Mayor, we have quorum. Great. Thanks, Madam Clerk. This meeting we have two briefings related to SAWs. The first is on the rate adjustment, proposed rate adjustment, and the second is related to an impact fee waiver. Eric, over to you. Yep, thank you, Mayor. So we'll kick off. Robert will start with Robert and Cecilia, and Troy will wrap up on the rate conversation in terms of staff recommendation. And then the second item is a kind of a policy level conversation for the council regarding impact fees. And Troy will give that presentation. There are two slides that CPS or I'm sorry, SAWs will provide some context, but that is a policy related item that was generated from conversations with a couple of council members. So with that, I'll turn it over to Robert. Good afternoon, Mayor, Council members. Pleasure to be here with you again. Last time we were here in June, Council made the decision to move our rate request from October from then to October. And since then, I've had the opportunity to meet individually with a lot of you and listen more closely to and address your concerns. There were concerns about affordability. I heard questions about whether we could we could reduce the rate request. I heard concerns about water law water loss and whether and whether we were doing enough to replace our aging water means. Those conversations all gave us an opportunity to discuss some of the work that had already already taken place and was underway before our June meeting. As we prepared our 2026 budget, we had already taken a hard look at our operating expenses and identified significant opportunities for savings. Those reductions became part of our foundation from which we continue to evaluate the plan that we're under following that June discussion. As part of the 2026 budget, we reduced operation and maintenance expenses by over 11 million dollars. We eliminated 20 vacant customer service positions, producing a $4 million savings. We reduced the water supply budget by $6 million, and we also reduced utility expenses by 1.2 million. Additionally, we uh reduced our budget revenue requirement another $3 million by removing senior lead debt service requirements. Assumptions. Those were decisions SAWs made before council considered the June rate request, and those savings carry forward into the subsequent years of this financial plan. I mentioned them because I want to make two important distinctions in two important distinctions distinctions. First, SAWs was already looking internally for savings and making reductions before we came to council. Second, after the June meeting, Council asked us to go further, and we did. We went back and looked at the plan and again changed it. There are several important differences between what council saw in June and what you see here today. First, we lowered the minimum rate increase in the final two years of the plan.