RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - Although the Rancho Murieta Community Services District’s final budget and rate increase for Fiscal Year 2025-26 is still pending approval, the draft discussed at the Finance Committee Meeting on March 13 bodes well for district customers.

Under the staff’s proposal, the average customer inside the gates would see a monthly increase of $6.81, representing a 2.5% rise. Starting in July, the current monthly rate of $271.97 would increase to $278.79.

The average Murieta Village customer would see a $6.02 increase in their bill, representing a 2.85% rate increase. Their current monthly rate of $212.80 would increase to $218.82.

The proposed increase contrasts sharply with the approved 2024-25 rates, which saw the average customer inside the gates pay an additional $29.36 per month: a 12.10% increase. Murieta Village residents experienced a $23.36 monthly increase, representing a 12.33% rise. The 2024-25 rate hikes, approved by the board, were necessary to address the second year of a budget shortfall.

As proposed, the operating budget for 2025-26 will be $9,583 million compared to $9,521 million this fiscal year, a $62,480 increase of 0.7%.

The full board was scheduled to review the proposed draft budget at its March 19 meeting, which occurred after the deadline for this story. The board was also expected to authorize the mailing of the Proposition 218 notice to inform residents about the proposed rate increase.

The Finance Committee consists of two board members—President Steve Booth and Director John Merchant—Mark Matulich, the Director of Administration and Finance; and other district staff. It conducts an in-depth review of financial issues and provides recommendations to the full board.

Matulich told the committee that the overarching goal for the 2025-26 fiscal year was to achieve a balanced operating budget, ensuring that operating revenues for each of the five funds—water, wastewater, drainage, security and solid waste—cover their respective operating expenses.

 “We are going to accomplish that through a continued effort to manage costs and then the rate increases,” he said. The proposed budget shows that all funds would be in the black, although by minimal amounts.

The proposed budget includes 24-hour security coverage of the gates and patrol shifts, partially funded by an annual barcode sticker fee of $10 per vehicle.

Another key component of next year’s budget was funding for reserves, which support repairing and replacing the district’s aging infrastructure.

“It is a good news story for the district,” Matulich said.

The total anticipated addition to the reserves is $2.63 million. This includes county property taxes of $970,000, reserve contributions from the rates totaling $1,042.733, connection fees of $193,194, security impact fees of $18,000, and interest and investment earnings of $402,312.

Merchant said that means the district would have $15 million for capital improvements, whether for immediate or long-term replacements and repairs.

“If we were to maintain this position, it shows me that in five years, we can add another $13 million to that figure,” he said.

Matulich also presented a budget timeline at the Finance Committee meeting. Following the board’s approval of the Proposition 218 notice mailing at the March 19 meeting, Finance Committee members will review the draft 2025-26 budget, proposed rates and reserves and develop a list of Capital Improvement Projects for the upcoming year during their April 10 and May 8 meetings. The deadline for submitting rate increase protests is May 21.

The schedule also establishes the first reading of the rate increase ordinance and a presentation of the draft budget for the board’s May 21 meeting. The second reading of the ordinance and final adoption of the budget would take place at the June 18 board meeting.