New Water and Sanitary Sewer Rates

Every Drop Counts: Why Your Water Bill Needs a Boost

The City of Tamarac is implementing new water and sanitary sewer rates to ensure it continues to provide high-quality water services.

Effective October 1, 2024, new water and sanitary sewer rates have been implemented following the City Commission’s adoption of these changes during the September 12 City Commission Meeting.

This decision follows a comprehensive water rate study conducted on June 13, 2024, highlighting several crucial factors needed to maintain and enhance our water infrastructure.

What is a rate study?

A rate study examines a service’s current costs and revenues to determine whether an adjustment is needed to recover the cost of providing that service. It also determines appropriate pricing structures for a municipality or utility's water and sewer services.  The City’s water and sewer utility operates as an enterprise fund, which means it runs like a business. It is self-supported by the money collected from users through their water and sewer bills. This means that the utility doesn’t rely on taxes for funding but instead uses the fees paid by customers to cover all its expenses, including maintenance, operations, and upgrades to the water and sewer systems. Your money on your water bill goes directly to keeping the water and sewer services running smoothly. 

According to the study, the key factors impacting the City’s water infrastructure include significant cost inflation, including the rise of chemical and electricity costs, water treatment expenses, necessary infrastructure improvements and rehabilitation.

A historical perspective:

 In 2011, the City of Tamarac adopted Ordinance 2011-006 to adjust water and sewer rates annually based on the U.S. Water & Sewerage Consumer Price Index (CPI). This was intended to keep rates in line with inflation and rising service costs. However, since 2014, the city has not increased these rates, meaning households have paid the same amount for water and sewer services for a decade. While this decision helped avoid extra costs for residents, it has created a gap between current rates and the increasing costs of providing these services.

So, what are the new rates?

The proposed water rate changes for the City of Tamarac, based on a recent water rate study, include the following adjustments:

• A blended increase of 9.8% for water and wastewater services

Based on a typical residential water usage of 1,000 gallons per month, the monthly water and sewer bill increase is 
approximately $3 - $5.

Even with the increase, Tamarac’s bills remain comparable as one of the lowest rates in Broward County. 

These changes will appear on your November statement. For more information and to view the water study results, visit Tamarac.org.