As a member agency of MWD of Southern California, Western Municipal Water District (District) provides water and wastewater service to approximately 24,000 retail and 8 wholesale customers in western Riverside County. Raftelis assisted the District in the development and implementation of a new water budget rate structure.
First, Raftelis identified and examined three potential water budget rate structures for the Murrieta and Riverside service areas. To analyze the impacts of these potential rate structures, Raftelis developed a Microsoft Excel-based water budget rate model. The model allowed the District to change the key factors for water allocations, provide revenue and impact analysis, and generate sample customer monthly bills under existing and proposed rates. Raftelis conducted meetings and workshops with District staff and the Board to analyze various rate structure scenarios to ensure that the new structure would meet the District’s objectives. Through these meetings, a water budget rate structure was selected to effectively meet the District’s needs, and this structure was successfully adopted.
Since the adoption of this water budget rate structure, the District has increased revenue stability, promoted water efficiency, and increased customer satisfaction.
In addition to developing the water budget rate structure, Raftelis also developed a customized, long-term 30-year financial plan model to help the District financially manage all 14 of its enterprises. This comprehensive yet user-friendly model is used to facilitate communication between staff and the District’s Board of Directors about the financial implications of different financial policies and capital improvement projects. The model also assists with coordination and decision making between engineering and finance staff as they work to prioritize capital projects and define a capital financing plan to achieve a sustainable and achievable solution.
