Rate Increase FAQ
What infrastructure projects is SLVWD committing to?
Due to many years of insufficient revenue together with more recent fire and storm damage, SLVWD has developed a huge backlog of essential infrastructure improvement. In recent years, SLVWD has begun making significant progress on this front, but COVID and the CZU Fire caused major disruptions. The current budget includes roughly four dozen distinct active and planned infrastructure projects involving storage tanks, pipes, pumps, and other critical components of SLVWD’s water delivery system. Some of these projects are being funded by previous loans, some will be partially funded by FEMA reimbursement, some are being funded by the special CZU Fire Surcharge, and some are being funded by grants. However, the remainder will need to be funded by an additional loan that the 2024-2028 rate increase is designed to cover. The advantage of using loans to pay for infrastructure repairs and upgrades is that it spreads the costs over 20 to 30 years, so that future beneficiaries of the improvements help pay for them.
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