Water, garbage, sewage rates going up in Sunnyvale

Keeping water flowing, sewage systems operating and garbage collected will cost Sunnyvale residents more in the coming year, as city officials work to keep pace with aging infrastructure and rising operating expenses.

The Sunnyvale City Council unanimously voted to increase water rates by 7.5%, sewage rates by 7% and garbage and recycling rates by 3% for fiscal year 2026-27. The city estimates the changes will increase a typical single-family household’s utility bill by about $12.43 per month, or roughly $149 annually. A single-family household will pay about $5.89 more each month for water, $5.09 more for sewage and $1.45 more for garbage and recycling services.

“It’s pretty impressive how Sunnyvale ranks for water… Sunnyvale is the lowest compared to seven other nearby cities,” Councilmember Linda Sell said at the meeting. “For solid waste, I believe Sunnyvale is the lowest cost compared to seven other cities.”

City officials said the city’s utilities are funded entirely through customer rates rather than the general fund. The increases are intended to offset rising wholesale water costs — with Valley Water increasing rates by 9.1% and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission raising rates by 7.4% —  inflation and long-term infrastructure investments. The city also projects about $180 million in water infrastructure investments over the next 20 years, with roughly 65% dedicated to replacing aging water lines, with numerous lines more than 50 years old.

The city received 102 written protests before the vote, with about half citing financial hardship. Proposition 218, a state law passed in 1996, requires cities to notify utility customers of proposed rate increases and allows customers to protest the decision. If a majority submit written protests, the increases cannot take effect. City spokesperson Jennifer Garnett said Sunnyvale received 102 written protests. It would have taken more than 15,700 protests — a majority of affected parcels — to stop the increases.

Vice Mayor Richard Mehlinger said the city sympathized with the protesters but argued the increases were necessary to maintain reliable utility services.

“There is no way for us to maintain a balanced budget and continue to provide utility service without rate increases,” Mehlinger said at the meeting. “We try to keep those rate increases as low as we can.”

Councilmembers also noted Sunnyvale’s utility rates remain among the lowest in the region. Garnett said the city uses a 20-year financial forecast to anticipate future utility needs and maintains rate stabilization reserves to help absorb larger cost increases over time. She added that, unlike a private business, the city bases utility rates on the cost of providing the service rather than generating a profit.

One remote speaker urged the council to reject the increases, saying residents are already struggling with rising rents, grocery, insurance and childcare costs.

“Residents should not be expected to continually absorb higher costs year after year,” the zoom speaker, who did not give her name, said. “The projected increase of approximately $149 per year for a typical household may not seem significant on paper, but for many families, every additional expense matters.”

Garnett said the city encourages customers experiencing financial hardship to contact the city. She said Sunnyvale offers payment extensions, no-interest payment plans and partners with Sunnyvale Community Services to help eligible residents pay utility bills.

Sunnyvale resident Sharlene Liu said she first urged the city council to rethink its garbage rate structure about 20 years ago after moving to the city. While she supports the approved increases, she said garbage rates should better reflect how much waste households produce. Liu said charging substantially more for larger garbage carts would encourage residents to reduce waste and think more carefully about their environmental impact.

“I’m not opposed to the garbage rate increase. I’m just opposed to the algorithm they use,” Liu told San José Spotlight.

Contact Maryanne Casas-Perez at [email protected] or @CasasPerezRed on X.