ESCONDIDO, Calif. — Escondido residents could soon see their water bill start to spike over the next 5 years similar to the plan San Diego City Council approved Tuesday.
If the proposal is passed, their bills will start to increase in January and continue to rise over the next five years. City leaders said the money is needed to pay for more imported water and to maintain the city's water infrastructure.
People CBS 8 spoke with in Escondido said they simply can't afford it.
"It's horrible. We can't afford it,” Carmen said. “Electricity is going up. Water is going up. Everything else is so expensive. We’re going to have to move."
She also said another rate hike will hurt water customers throughout the city.
"I don't know what people are going to do. Especially people with kids. We're retired and we're okay, but I feel for the younger people," Carmen said.
Jonathan said the city needs to find another way to get the money they need for water and wastewater improvements because living in Escondido is already expensive enough.
"I think anytime rates go up, it affects all of us," he said. "Working and living in a community where any increase affects us all is a concern for me. I'm sure there's other things, like a tourism tax or something. It feels like us as residents get stuck with paying for things that just hurt us."
The proposal is not set in stone and will be heard by the Escondido City Council on October 18. If approved, water rates will increase 8.5% on January 1, 2024. Rates will hike a second time 9% July 1, 2024 and will increase 9% each year until 2027.
Wastewater and recycled water rates will also increase by 9% on January 1st, 2024. There would be a second increase of 7% in July 2024 and each year following through 2026. A final increase of 5% would hit July 1, 2027.
Angela Morrow is the interim director of utilities for the City of Escondido. She said the proposal includes incremental increases.
"The big reason (for the incremental increase) is not to burden customers with huge increases all at once," she said. "It's spread out over 5 years."
Morrow said the City of Escondido also has to pay its’ bills.
“There are maintenance costs as well as to pay off debt," she said. "We've entered into debt to pay off some large projects so we need to pay that. Then we also need to bring in money to replace capital projects in our current system."
Morrow said there’s an incentive to conserve in the current proposal as well.
"Some of the rates are variable which means that it depends on how much water you use and so if you are able to conserve water and use less, your bills will be a little bit less," Morrow said.
Jonathan said he's hoping the city can come up with another plan before the October 18 meeting.
"Anything they can do as an alternative would be great," he said. "But at the end of the day, it seems like we're always the ones that's paying for it."
The City of Escondido is inviting the community out to a public meeting on Thursday, September 28. Morrow with the city's water department said this will be an opportunity for residents to talk with city staff and get answers to questions they might have.
For more information about the rate hike and how it's broken down, click here.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego City Council approves water rate hike