The average single family in Grover Beach can expect their city wastewater bill to more than double by 2030—increasing from roughly $25 bi-monthly to about $58.
Starting in July, rates will start ticking up at 17.8 percent a year for the next five years to help the city pay for an estimated $11 million in needed upgrades to its aging sewer lines, lift stations, and storm drains. The Grover Beach City Council passed the rate increase unanimously at its June 9 meeting, capping off two years of controversy surrounding the issue.
“I know that a couple of people have made the comment that it’s too steep or we don’t want this,” Councilmember Jules Tuggle said at the meeting. “We’re all in this together. I’m a neighbor, too, and I would love to not pay it. That would be my first choice. … This can’s been kicked down the road for a long time, and now we’re stuck in this place.”
With aging sewer pipelines and a need to plan for growth, she said, the rate increases are specific to Grover Beach’s needs and “the right decision.”
“That just is what it is,” Tuggle said. “I think that it’s time to take care of the next generation, and I recognize that that’s going to have an impact on people.”
She added that she received many emails in support of the change, support that wasn’t necessarily represented during public comment on the issue. Several people who spoke during public comment were members of Grover H2O, a group of residents who actively opposed water and wastewater rate hikes passed in 2023. That sentiment eventually found its way to the 2024 ballot, when 64 percent of voters passed a repeal of the increases.
Grover H20 member Brenda Auer reminded the City Council about what happened last November and the Central Coast Blue water recycling project that preceded those increased water rates. Central Coast Blue was a big reason Grover H2O rallied against the city, and the city eventually pulled out of the regional recycled water project.
Auer said that while the city needs to fix its sewer system, the people spoke out against water rate increases and won.
“I’m afraid this is a snaky deal that we’ve got going on here. I think that you’re trying to fix the sewer for Central Coast Blue to come back,” she said.
City Manager Matthew Bronson said that “there’s nothing related to what’s in these sewer projects that have to do with Central Coast Blue.”
As part of the rate increase approval process, residents were able to submit protests under Proposition 218—if 50 percent of customers plus one protests the increase, the city can’t make the change. With only 382 protests received of the 2,681-protest threshold, Grover Beach could move forward.
Councilmember Robert Robert said if the city delayed the rate increases once again, it would just cost more in the long run, echoing what 3rd District SLO County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said during public comment.
“If we don’t invest in some of this infrastructure now, it will become more expensive later,” Ortiz-Legg said. “Yes, expansion is needed; yes, infrastructure wears out. …. Delays in repairs can lead to catastrophic failures in the long run.” Δ
This article appears in Jun 12-22, 2025.