CVWD OK’s $376 Million Budget, No Rate Hikes

Coachella Valley Water District’s (CVWD) Board of Directors on Tuesday June 9 approved a $376 million operating and capital improvement budget for fiscal year 2021 that includes no increase in water rates.

“During these difficult economic times, it was a priority of ours to keep rates low,” Board President John Powell Jr. said in a statement. “CVWD staff put a lot of thought into choosing the projects needed to ensure the reliability of our services throughout the district while ensuring we do not need to raise rates during these challenging times.”

The 2021 fiscal year budget maintains current rates for domestic water, canal and construction meter charges and includes no increases in staffing for the district.

The operating budget amounts to $278.6 million and is supplemented with $97.3 million in capital improvement projects. This represents a decrease of 3.8%, or $11.1 million decrease, over the fiscal 2020 operating budget and a decrease of 23.2%, or $29.4 million decrease, from the fiscal 2020 capital improvement budget.

CVWD provides a number of different water-related services to the community and, by law, must keep the funding and spending related to those services separate. Under Proposition 218, CVWD can only charge a customer the costs of delivering that service.

The board held study sessions on Feb. 24, March 11 and April 4 to review the proposed operating and capital improvement budgets.

The Coachella Valley Water District is a public agency governed by a five-member board of directors. The district provides domestic and irrigation water, agricultural drainage, wastewater treatment and reclamation services, regional storm water protection, groundwater management and water conservation. It serves approximately 108,000 residential and business customers across 1,000 square miles, located primarily in Riverside County, but also in portions of Imperial and San Diego counties.