Queen Creek Unified School District would pay roughly $459,000 more for water in the first year of the town's proposed water fees, according to slides prepared for a presentation to the district's Governing Board on Tuesday.
The town's "Water Self-Sufficiency Update," posted with the agenda for the board's 4:30 p.m. study session, simulates a year of district water bills using 2025 usage. It puts the current total at about $602,800 and the first-year total at about $1,061,000, a 76% increase. A summary slide in the same deck rounds the first-year impact to about $451,000.
The study session item is listed for discussion only. The Town Council holds its public hearing on the fees Nov. 18.
Where the increase comes from
Two changes drive the district's higher bill, according to the slides:
- Delivery rates. The town would replace its tiered usage rates with a single rate per customer type and raise fixed charges for larger meters. Landscape irrigation water would cost $4 per 1,000 gallons, and water used mostly inside buildings would cost $2.50. The fixed charge on a 4-inch meter would go from $350.75 to $878.33. Together, those changes add about $104,000 to the district's yearly bill.
- The new water resource fee. At the first-year rate of $3.07 per 1,000 gallons, the fee would cost the district about $368,500. The town would reimburse about $16,600 in Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District charges at the district's 10 enrolled accounts, which serve Faith Mather Sossaman, Frances Brandon-Pickett and Schnepf elementary schools.
The fee is phased in over five years after the first. The slides project the district's net added cost at about $535,400 in the second year, $719,100 in the third, $902,500 in the fourth and $1.09 million in the fifth, reaching about $1.29 million in the sixth year once the replenishment reimbursements end.
The town's case
The town says the fee pays for a long-term water supply that is less exposed to drought and Colorado River cuts, mainly water from the Harquahala Valley moved through the CAP canal.
