Cayucos residents successfully blocked a proposed water rate increase Sept. 1 after more than enough property owners protested the county’s plan to raise rates for customers in South Cayucos.
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors unanimously recognized the majority protest after the county clerk reported receiving 525 valid written protests—more than the 441 needed to stop the increase under Proposition 218. The vote means the proposed rates will not take effect.
County Public Works proposed raising rates for County Service Area 10A (CSA 10A), which provides water to roughly 780 connections in South Cayucos. The plan called for a 15 percent increase in the first year followed by 5 percent annual increases for the next four years.
The current base charge of $217.79 every two months would have increased to $250.45 in the first year and $304.42 by year five. Charges for water used beyond the included amount would have risen from $12.07 per unit to $13.88 initially and $16.87 by year five.
Public Works Program Manager Laura Holder told supervisors the additional revenue was needed because operating costs have increased since rates were last set eight years ago, while recent infrastructure projects increased debt payments and depleted the system’s reserves.
“Revenue is no longer sufficient to fund the increased operation and maintenance, meet our annual parent loan payments, advance capital planning, and begin to rebuild the financial reserves,” Holder said.
During public comment, residents urged the county to examine ways to reduce the system’s expenses before returning with another rate proposal.
“What we would really want to do is to sit down with the county and figure out better ways of how we can control those costs,” longtime CSA 10A resident Mary Ann Carnegie said.
Carnegie pointed to two other water providers operating in Cayucos that residents said deliver water from the same source at lower rates and suggested the county examine alternatives for operating CSA 10A.
“We all have the need to tighten our belts,” Carnegie said. “Tough decisions are needed to improve efficiency and management, the workforce, better scheduling and more shared services, and prioritizing repairs.”
“We cannot afford to keep spending the money the way we are,” she added.
Second District Supervisor Bruce Gibson said that despite the majority protest, the county must address CSA 10A’s finances at some point. He described the proposal as a “bare bones” attempt to keep the system operating and said it is currently spending at a deficit and drawing down its reserves.
“Some amount of rate increase is going to be necessary in order to maintain the viability of CSA 10A,” Gibson said. “There’s just a basic math problem there that needs to be addressed.”
Third District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg suggested that the county explore whether private contactors could provide some services more cheaply. Gibson said alternatives for maintaining CSA 10A would be part of upcoming discussions with Public Works and the County Executive Office, but he stopped short of supporting an immediate request for proposals.
“How we structure it over what kind of time remains to be said,” Gibson said, adding that the county would continue working with residents on what comes next. ∆
This article appears in Sept 3-10, 2026.
