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<br /> <br />Water Rate Cost-of-Service Study <br />Section 4. Cost-of-Service Analysis <br /> <br /> <br />HF&H Consultants, LLC | July 8, 2025 | Page 30 of 53 <br /> 65145 – Water Purchases. The City does not have its own surface water or groundwater <br />resources; the City is not supplied by lakes, river diversions, or wells. Instead, the City <br />purchases treated water from the SFPUC. The cost of its water supply is included in the <br />cost paid to the SFPUC, which is the City’s single largest O&M expense. This cost category <br />is allocated to customers based on demand, as costs vary with the total quantity of water <br />used. Expenses include annual fees the City pays as a BAWSCA member in addition to the <br />wholesale water purchase expenses. <br /> 65146 – Water Resource Management. The City must continue to meet evolving state- <br />issued water efficiency standards and regulations. To meet efficiency standards, customers <br />are expected to use water judiciously. Costs in this category also include the City’s water <br />conservation program. Hence, a majority of program costs are recovered through demand <br />function. <br />Customer Service Functions <br />There are four customer service functions. Each of these functions includes costs that are not <br />related to rates of flow. <br />Administrative Support Services. This category of expenses includes costs the Enterprise <br />pays for services provided on its behalf. Specifically, it covers the utility’s proportional share <br />of expenses related to city-wide financial services such as auditing and advising on <br />investments. These are administrative and support costs that benefit the utility’s operations <br />and are allocated based on the number of meters served, independent of the volume of water <br />delivered or rates of flow. <br />Capital Expenses – Investments in the Enterprise infrastructure are necessary to ensure <br />existing levels of service are maintained. In addition, capital projects allow for expansion of <br />the system’s capacity to support growth. Costs are allocated based on the capacity <br />corresponding to each meter served. <br />Non-Operating Revenue – Revenue from miscellaneous fees benefit rate payers by reducing <br />the net amount of expenses that rates need to cover. These costs are independent of rates of <br />flow and are applied to the fixed component of the service charge to reduce the cost of service <br />to each meter. <br />Reserves – Similar to non-operating revenue, rate payers benefit from the Enterprise’s use <br />of reserves. In FY 2025-26, the planned use of $7.5 million in reserves will help offset the <br />need for larger rate increases to meet growing expenses. As a result, the City can charge rate <br />payers less than the total revenue requirement and phase in rates over time to reduce impacts <br />to rate payers. These costs are independent of flow, but are apportioned using a composite <br />allocation of all other functions analyzed. This is shown in more detail in Figure 4-9. <br />Reductions to rates are intended to benefit customers by reducing the Service Charges and <br />the Water Use Charges assessed. <br />Fire Protection <br />The distribution system also includes hydrants for fire suppression and supply to private fire <br />services. To segregate the water supply and distribution costs from Program 65144 <br />attributable to public and private fire protection services an allocation was developed in <br />Figure 4-4 according to the value of pressure and storage assets in the water system. These <br />specific asset types were designed to meet both fire flow and maximum day demand <br />ATTY/RESO.0109/CC RESO WATER RATES - EXHIBIT A <br />REV: 11-05-25 MI