The Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District appreciates our residents for making this district a wonderful place to live, play, and work. Our goal is to have our residents live "The Brushy Creek Life". We strive for the highest quality of life and water for everyone that lives in Brushy Creek. In order to continue our goal, we must perform certain tasks and duties. Below you will find information pertaining to our recent Water and Wastewater Rate Study. Brushy Creek is committed to managing and controlling our costs while maintaining an efficient and sustainable future for the District.
The District periodically conducts water and wastewater rate studies to ensure we can continue to maintain the state-of-the-art "Superior" water treatment and wastewater removal services you have come to trust. Our last rate study, conducted in 2017, let the District maintain our rates at a lower schedule than other MUD and City entities in the area, providing a greater value for Brushy Creek residents. This year's rate study considers projections over the next ten (10) years, including upgrades to our growing and aging infrastructure and those of our partners like the Brazos River Authority and the Brushy Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility in Round Rock. Other MUD and City authorities have undergone similar studies and are currently rolling out changes to their customers. The Board of the Brushy Creek MUD and staff worked closely with our consultants and advisors to ensure that the rate changes accurately reflect the known needs of the District and are comparable, or better than, other MUD and City utility rates for the surrounding area.
District revenues are significantly attributed to property tax, utility revenue, and parks and recreation revenue. Regarding utility revenue, the District historically has not significantly adjusted water and wastewater rates which drive this revenue. By example, water rate increases have previously occurred in 2004, 2009, and 2018/2020 (a two-phase rate increase approach). Due to ongoing inflationary pressures, heightened environmental regulations, power grid reliability, and cybersecurity threats, the District is now required to study and recommend rate increases in FY23.
The District hired consultants NewGen Strategies and Solutions in 2022 to review the water utility cost-of-service. This work helps determine the rates and rate structure across all customer classes needed to equitably fund the water utility for the next five years, including all costs associated with operating, maintaining, and expanding the utility.
After examining the utilities capital improvement projects (The Zebra Mussel project and the City of Round Rock Wastewater improvement project); and the increasing costs of inflation and interest rates, the District will need to raise customer rates for water and wastewater to ensure we have enough revenue to cover the costs of operating the utility, and to meet our regulatory targets and requirements.
The new water and wastewater rates will go into effect on January 1, 2023. The Board of Directors considered the new rates through the budget adoption process from July through September 2022.
Below is a link to the Customer Letter that will be mailed with your January statement pertaining to the water and wastewater rate increase that will take effect on January 1, 2023. The monthly base water rate will increase from $15.00 for a standard-sized meter to $20.00 per month. The attached chart provides new base rate information for all meter sizes. The District’s Utility rates continue to be some of the lowest in the area. Please check our website for a comparison of local utility rates. The volumetric rates for water service will increase from $2.25 per thousand gallons during off-peak months (October through May) to $3.50 and from $2.95 per thousand gallons to $4.70 during peak months (June through September). The rate change will be effective for usage after January 1, 2023, and will be reflected on your February 1, 2023, water bill.