Outcry Over Water and Sewer Bills

Outcry Over Water and Sewer Bills Prompts City Council Action

Nearly 100 residents turned up to the Special City Council meeting about “Water and Sewer Rate Changes” on Friday November 7, 2025. A total of 14 citizen comments were delivered. Small business owners, retirees, and representatives of the younger generation all took to the podium and shared personal stories of their struggle to pay the increased water and sewer bill charges. The City Council listened to the complaints and discussed the potential for refunds or rate amendments. The topic will be readdressed during the regular city council meeting on Monday night November 10, 2025.

The November 7 meeting started at an odd time of 4:00PM on a Friday afternoon. Councilperson J.P. Sanchez and Councilperson Carmen Gutierrez were absent from the meeting but there was still a quorum. Mayor Al Arreola arrived 5 minutes late. Councilperson James DeReus opened the meeting in Arreola’s absence. The first thing DeReus said was, “We’re sorry we are putting everyone through this.”

The 14 Citizen Comments proceeded as follows:

1. Bea Vallejo – Asked council to “repeal, rethink, and refigure” the water and sewer rate changes, calling them “outrageous.”  She expressed her disappointment with the water fund being used to subsidize the general fund. The city raised water rates because they needed to recoup funds to repay loans to fix the water infrastructure in Del Rio. Now, part of that money will be used to cover the cost of City staff salaries instead. Vallejo warned council, “Make good use of taxpayers money, fees earned, and borrowed money, if not, the City of Del Rio will be close to bankruptcy by December of 2026.”

2. Randy Winn – Referenced the dire drought conditions in Del Rio and said, “Today we live in the Chihuahua Desert.” He said City Council is not to blame for the lack of rain, but regarding the water and sewer rate, “the community as a whole cannot afford what y’all have done.” Winn said his residential water and sewer rate combined total from last billing period was $164, and one month later it jumped up to $290. He is a retired teacher and is paying his bills out of his life savings.

3. Aileen Morales – Spoke alongside her mother to provide an intergenerational and bilingual perspective. Morales owns MoMos Coffee downtown. She said when MoMo’s opened three years ago, their water and sewer bill was approximately $100 per month total. But this year it has been around $500 each month. She said their business sales are lower than last year, but their water bill is higher.

4. Pauline Callinger – Inspired a lot of feedback from the general audience. When she said, “For all of us, what you’re doing is unfair,” the audience chimed in with a resounding “right!” She then rhetorically asked the City Council, “What are you using this money for?” She continued with, “What about other communities, like Eagle Pass, are their bills like this?” The audience responded with a loud “No!”

5. Paul Mancha – Provided a simple example about communication to the City Council. He called out the Communications Team for the shoddy video feed of the meeting livestream. Then he dramatically circled the room, extending his arm to each City staff member, and shook their hand one at a time. He said, “It only took seconds for you all to stand up and shake everyone’s hand.” Mancha suggested the City Council should have ensured each resident was properly informed about the water and sewer rate changes prior to their implementation, even if that meant going house to house.

6. Ronda Hargrove – Called for the delegation of Border Organization Leaders to stand up and be recognized. 10 people in the front row rose to their feet in solidarity. Her main point was about lack of accessible communication. She said, “I’m aware that there needs to be some type of a fair and reasonable increase so that the City would be eligible for an exorbitant loan with low interest rates… There were townhall meetings to discuss all this, however, we don’t have anyway to get that to most citizens in the community.”

7. Felisa Martinez – Expressed concern about the small businesses located downtown and their ability to remain open with the increase in overhead costs. She is the property manager of the Shops on Main and said, “We can’t afford to pay so much in water.” She asked about the reliability of the water meters and questioned their accuracy. She ironically asked, “Are all the meters faulty or do we all have water leaks?” All the audience laughed. Martinez added, “Our water went from 3,000 gallons a month to 32,000… I open up the water meter, and that thing keeps running night and day, when no one is there… so there is something very wrong.”

8. Stephanie McLennon – Brought up a memory of a similar situation that happened with the water bill three years ago. She explained, “How people will have a normal water bill and then it skyrockets up, and then we are told, oh it’s a leak.” Her personal example was a random $1,200 water bill. She said no leak could be found, but still, “I had to pay that amount otherwise my kids wouldn’t have water in my house.” McLennon said after paying the $1,200, her bill went back to normal for 6 months, until she was hit with another random $1,200 charge. She alluded to possible errors in billing or errors in meter reading. She encouraged City Council to, “Ensure users are being metered and billed properly so we don’t have to continue paying for the city’s mistakes.”

9. Tera Avila – Reminded everyone that Del Rio is already “A rural food desert, meaning that we have limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.” She said, “High water rates, such as those seen this month, contribute to a worsening of food insecurity… High water rates divert household income away from food budgets and encourages consumption of cheaper, lower quality foods.” She said this will eventually have a negative impact on the health of Del Rioans.

10. Juan E. Ortiz Jr. – Thought Del Rio was a place of peace. Ortiz said he doesn’t feel the peace in Del Rio anymore. He said, “I looked at the bill and thought, that’s our savings.” Ortiz is a disabled veteran, and his mother is battling cataracts. He said, “Sewer $400, wow, water close to $600, I mean, just me and my mom, come on.”

11. Patricio Garza – Said to City Council, “The solution to any problem is not to ask for more money, but to manage wisely what you do have in funds.” He left the public with the following thought, “Rate increases that are being proposed will be ongoing for the next 5 years… This is just the tip of the ice burg what we are seeing today.”

12. Elizabeth Ortiz – Got straight to the point and said, “We cannot afford the increase.” Ortiz asked, “Why are we the citizens having to pay for the City debt that has accumulated?” She suggested that there are other ways to stop the debt and provided a few examples, such as cutting city contracts with external consultants, taxing developers, or reducing their online subscriptions. Ortiz shared that her sewer bill for 7,000 gallons usage quadrupled from $27.82 per month to $122.

13. Kenie Acevedo – Reflected on the water billing issues the City had a few years ago. He said, “During those meetings, it was brought to everyone’s attention that the meters had been buried under a foot of dirt for years.” Most of the meters were subsequently upgraded to digital in attempts to avoid that issue. Acevedo said after the upgrade, “The bill went down a little bit and here we are again… My water bill this month, it tripled, almost $600, which is almost my mortgage, and it’s just unsustainable.”

14. Ana Alvarez – Mentioned people on fixed income, like herself. She said, “My bill went super high. Sewer from $25 to $130 something, one family household only. And then a family of 10, I can’t imagine. If mine went up so high and I’m just one person, I can’t imagine all the rest.”

In summary, citizens were concerned about the bad timing of increase. The new water and sewer rates hit at the same time as the government shutdown, when SNAP benefits are at their lowest and economic inflation is at its highest. Citizen concerns about metering accuracy were raised, and examples of inconsistencies in billing were provided. The inconvenience of the Friday meeting at 4:00pm was referenced several times, and citizens thought that the rate change was not communicated effectively enough prior to in advance of the new rate implementation. The live video coverage of the meeting cut in and out, and residents were upset that their messages were not being conveyed to the public.

City Manager Shawna Burkhart then presented a few slides about the water and sewer rate changes, moving from a flat rate to a rate based on consumption. Burkhart said, “This month’s bill includes water conservation pricing, which TCEQ requires us to do… The more you use, the more you pay.” She provided an overview of the new tiered pricing structure, which is designed to encourage residents to reduce their water and sewer usage. The public was reminded that Del Rio is under mandated Stage 2 Water Conservation order.

Ordinance 2025-094, amending the wastewater billing practices to reestablish “winter averaging rates” was passed unanimously in a City Council vote. Burkhart took full responsibility for the error in removing winter averaging rates from the wastewater bill calculations. Burkhart said, “It was a failure of communication, a failure of discernment on the magnitude of the decision. That decision being made in a short time frame during the budget session between myself and the finance director.”

Overall, the sewer rates and water rates will remain in place, however, the reestablishment of the billing adjustment for “winter averaging rates” should help alleviate some cost from the sewer bill for residential customers. Commercial customers do not qualify for winter averaging. Burkhart said the high sewer bills were not due to an error in calculation, but an error in decision making to remove the winter averaging. The original ordinance from June 2025, when the new rate structure was originally passed, specifically said “winter averaging will remain in effect.” But upon implementation, it was removed.

The idea of partial refunds or account credits was suggested. DeReus said, “I just know we need to do it. We need to give a refund for people, because people are being charged, because we collectively screwed up. We made a mistake. We need to make it right.” Assistant City Manager said, “Everyone is affected in a different way in a different percentage… it’s not the same across the board. it all depends on their consumption and where their winter average was at a certain time.” Therefore, if refunds or credits are approved, they will have to be calculated individually per account.

Resident’s water will not be disconnected if they cannot pay this last month’s bill, City Council confirmed. But preexisting past due accounts will be cut off, if they have more than a few months unpaid history. Based on this month’s bill alone, nonpayment will not result in late fees nor nonpayment fees, City Council confirmed. They will be working on a solution to provide refunds or credits over the next several weeks, and if everything goes according to plan, customers should get money back 30-40 days after. Each of the approximate 15,000 individual account refund/credits will have to be calculated and processed by the water billing department manually one-by-one.