Water and Sewer Rates
Water Rates Effective July 1, 2024
Water, fixed meter charge: $58.50 / month (standard residential meter)
Larger meters for irrigation and the MHP are proportionately greater
Water, Quantity Charge: $1.78 / ccf (hundred cubic feet)
Wastewater Rates Effective July 1, 2024
1- OLWD wastewater operations charge: $106.14/month
2- Manteca wastewater treatment charge
Current
Oakwood Shores single Family Home: $43.40 / month
Mobile Home Park $43.40 / month
Proposed (Effective May 15, 2025)
Oakwood Shores Single Family Home: $58.60 / month
Mobile Home Park: $37.20 / month
3- Manteca Capacity Charge $48.25 / month ($579 / year Collected annually via the San Joaquin Property Tax Roll)
In 2022, the District commissioned a Water and Wastewater Rate Study which analyzed the cost of water and wastewater service for the subsequent five year period. The Study identified needed inflationary adjustments to the water rates together with a new structure for the District's wastewater rates reflecting the cost of wastewater service that the District is incurring under its contract with the City of Manteca. The District Board of Directors approved the new water and wastewater rates after a Public Hearing at its meeting on June 28, 2022. Those new rates were effective July 1, 2022.
Summary of Water Rates: Water rates were held constant for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. Subsequently, water rates as approved by the Board of Directors after a noticed public hearing increase 3.0% per year for four years starting with July 1, 2023 to keep up with the then projected impact of inflation on the operations and maintenance cost of the water system.
Summary of Wastewater Rates: Wastewater rates decreased significantly on July 1, 2022 after the District commissioned new wastewater facilities and began to pump untreated wastewater to Manteca. The OLWD component of the wastewater rate was set at $106.14 / month and is scheduled to be held constant through June 30, 2026. The City of Manteca component of the wastewater rate is contractually set at the same rate as Manteca charges for residents in the City. That amount is currently $43.30 for both single family homes and mobile home park units. That rate automatically adjusts whenever Manteca adjusts wastewater rates. This allowed the District to decommission its existing wastewater treatment and disposal facilities, reducing direct costs for wastewater treatment and disposal operations.
Manteca Proposed Wastewater Rate Increase: The City of Manteca recently issued a notice of their intent to raise wastewater rates. (The Notice can be found under the box titled "Documents" on the Home Page of OLWD's website.) The proposed rates are identified above. Manteca is currently accepting comments and protest letters related to that proposal. Manteca has scheduled a public hearing on March 18th to hear comments about the proposal and possibly adopt a revised rate schedule.
Oakwood Lake Water District customers should direct all comments and protest letters to the City of Manteca as identified in the Notice. The District encourages copies of any written comments and protest letters to be sent to the District Secretary at jeanknight1@outlook.com.
Applicability of Manteca Capacity Charge As can be seen in the "Notice of Proposed Changes to Water and Wastewater Rates and Notice of Public Hearing" (see link below) the proposed wastewater structure will consist of three separate components, one of which will be the "Manteca Capacity Component". This new component represents payment to Manteca for allowing the District to connect to its wastewater treatment and disposal system. It is essentially a charge identical to what any new home built in Manteca now pays to connect to the city’s wastewater facilities. This charge is a requirement of the District’s agreement with Manteca. This charge would only be assessed on those single family and mobile home park units for which a building permit was issued by San Joaquin County before June 4, 2019 which is the effective date of the District’s agreement with Manteca. This charge will not be applicable to single family homes or mobile home park units for which a building permit was issued by San Joaquin County on or after that date provided that the Manteca Capacity Component was paid as a single payment by the builder or owner. The capacity charge, if paid as a single payment, would be $5,964 per single family home and $5,103 per mobile home park unit. However, Manteca is allowing these amounts to be gradually paid over a 12 year period at a 2.5% interest rate. This equates to $48.45/month per applicable single family home and $41.46/month per mobile home park unit. Commercial properties (excepting the HOA clubhouse) will not be subject to this District charge because they will be required to pay the Manteca Capacity fee in full prior to the issuance of a building permit. This Manteca Capacity charge will remain unchanged from proposed inception on July 1, 2022 for the twelve year period. Separately, the District Board approved a program allowing, but not requiring, a customer subject to the Manteca Capacity Component to pay off the principal amount in whole or in part thereby eliminating or reducing this component from their monthly bill. The payoff will be subject to certain restrictions as to amounts and timing of the amount paid.
Customers have been asking whether the charge is or is not applicable to their property. The charge will be applicable if the building permit for the property was issued before June 4, 2019 (unless the charge has been already paid by the builder). See the link below to determine if your property is or is not subject to this charge.
Receipt and Payment of Service Bills
Your water and sewer service bill is calculated based on your previous monthly usage. For example, the January invoice will be calculated and sent to you in early February after the month of January is complete so that all usage data is captured. Water and sewer service bills are considered delinquent if not paid by the last day of the month and late fees are assessed.
System Capacity Charges
Capacity fees are a type of development impact fee that public agencies may impose as a condition of development under the authority of California Government Code section 66000 et seq., the Mitigation Fee Act (Act). The purpose of capacity fees is to ensure that development pays its fair share of the costs associated with providing system capacity. Capacity fees are a one-time charge paid near at the time the connection is made or entitlements are received. The Act requires that those fees or charges shall not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service. The District has established Capacity Fees for Water and Sewer Service as follows:
Miscellaneous Fees and Charges