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With the new tax year starting this month, increased sewer charges have hit the books for residential, commercial and public property owners in much of the San Ramon Valley.
The Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, better known as Central San, adopted new sewer rates in May for both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years with hikes across most service categories that officials say are necessary to address operational needs for the public agency that spans from Martinez to San Ramon.
“Our top priorities include replacing aging infrastructure, advancing energy efficiency and recycled water solutions, and meeting emerging regulatory requirements — in particular, new more stringent limits on nitrogen,” Central San General Manager Roger S. Bailey told DanvilleSanRamon.
“The rates adopted by the Board will enable us to continue tackling these challenges while delivering the safe, reliable sewer service our customers depend on every day,” Bailey added.
Unanimously approved by the Central San Board of Directors on May 22, the new annual rate for single-family homes in the district went up to $754 on July 1, compared to $725 for the year before. Central San residential customers pay the annual fee as a line item on their property tax bill.
The single-family residential rate will rise to $784 per year starting in the 2026-27 tax year.
The per-unit charge for multi-family residential properties actually went down slightly, from $647 to $625 for this year, but the annual fee will increase to $650 for 2026-27. The service category includes apartments, condos, duplexes and mobile home parks.
The fee for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) has dipped from $353 last year to $335 this year and $348 next year.
The charges are up across the board in commercial and other non-residential customer categories, except one. On the low-strength usage end, such as retail, office buildings, churches, daycares and rest homes, the charge went from $7.94 per hundred cubic feet (HCF) to $8.12 for this year and will go to $8.44 next year.
On the high-strength end, such as bakeries, restaurants with grinders or on-site brewing, and mortuaries, the cost rose from $15.06 per HCF to $16.70 this year and will increase $17.37 next year.
Restaurants, hotels and supermarkets are in the medium-high category, which is now $13.54 HCF (up from $12.52) and will become $14.08.
Elementary, intermediate and high schools have also seen their rates rise, as have permitted industrial users.
The non-residential minimum annual charge mirrors the down-then-up path of the multi-unit residential: $647 in 2024-25, $625 in 2025-26 and $650 in 2026-27.
The new rate structure followed the drafting and public review of a cost-of-service study, which “identifies the wastewater system infrastructure and services needed to serve all customers, the estimated cost of providing that system and service to customers, and the proportionate allocation of those costs to each customer class that receives the benefit of that system”, Central San officials noted.
In its public notice mailer, the agency called out six sets of critical projects that will be paid for by the increased funding: a nutrient regulatory requirements roadmap, replacement of pipes and pumping stations, large sewer inspections, rehabilitation of its solids handling facilities, aeration basin renovations and an energy efficiency roadmap.
In particular, the notice pointed to new regulations from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board requiring wastewater agencies in the Bay Area to reduce nitrogen discharges to the Bay by 40% within a decade – those associated costs for Central San could range from $500 million to $700 million, thus the need for the nutrient-management roadmap, according to the local agency.
Central San provides sewer and recycled water service to Alamo, Danville and parts of San Ramon in the Tri-Valley, as well as Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda and parts of Concord and Martinez.
“Through proactive maintenance of our 1,500+ miles of neighborhood sewer pipes, we’ve achieved one of the best reliability records in the state,” Bailey said.
“We also recently marked 27 consecutive years of 100% compliance with our National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit, placing Central San among the top 20 publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities in the United States,” he added. “We’re very proud of our work and thankful to our customers for their support and the trust they place in us.”
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