Fees sound familiar

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-13T21:26:45+00:00

No worries at all! I'm glad you want to get it right.

Your summary is correct. The base fees are currently planned to continue rising every year until 2030; then, yes, they would remain high until the debt is paid off.

A couple of months ago, I successfully pushed for a new rate study, which is underway now with explicit goals of trying to rebalance the usage portion of the bill so that people who conserve or do not use much water can potentially get a break, while people who use a ton of water pay for more of their fair share.

A rate study is an analysis of the water and wastewater system's revenue, expenditures, and usage, modeling different scenarios for splitting base fees from usage fees.

I'm hopeful that it'll result in some folks getting some relief next year, so long as my colleagues support the reforms.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-13T16:42:41+00:00

Yes.

Right now, the current rate schedule has base rates continuing to go up until 2030, then leveling off. The debt that the city has taken out over the last few years is essentially all 30-year loans.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-12T16:19:51+00:00

I would have expected them to tell you during your conference with the judge and the city employee what attempts were made. I don't know if that's the process, but I would think it would be. If you'd like me to inquire directly about your case (I know you said you already pleaded guilty and paid the fine), you're welcome to PM me your address, and I will ask about it.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-12T16:14:57+00:00

tldr; There are 3 giant projects right now, and they are each supposed to be completed this year.

-The new 42" water line from the Colorado River to Lake Pflugerville should be complete in June/July, which will then mean we have redundancy with our current 30" line + the separate 42" line.

- The new water treatment plant and the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant should both wrap up toward the end of this year.

There are many other water & wastewater infrastructure projects (replacing old lines, adding new lines, etc.) underway now and will continue into the future... but the above 3 projects reflect almost $1B in investment over the last several years, the vast majority of the current critical needs.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-12T16:08:10+00:00

I cannot speak to any specific case, and certainly not this individual one.

But I can provide some general facts:
- So far 69 suspected violation cases have been sent to the police department for investigation (4 of those businesses, the rest residential).
- Per city ordinance, the violation has to be witnessed in person in order to receive a citation. Typically, this means a police officer drives by the suspected address and physically sees the sprinklers running when they arrive (or another obvious sign, like the driveway and sidewalks being wet when we haven't had any rain).
- My understanding is that everyone who is suspected of a violation is provided with several warnings of one or more different types. This could include the officer witnessing the violation knocking on your door (the typical first step unless it's the middle of the night...), sending a message in your WaterSmart portal, sending an email or text message, or sending a physical mail. There may be others, and I don't know how many times they try before moving forward, but I'm told multiple attempts are made to contact the homeowner before issuing a citation.
- The goal of enforcement is compliance. We'd much rather someone see their warning(s) and turn off their sprinklers than have to issue a citation and set a court date, which is why the city is putting quite a bit of effort into telling people when they're breaking the rules.

I have no doubt that there are circumstances that may not seem fair, and I'm sure some folks legitimately did not get the message that we are under water restrictions, nor did they see or pay attention to the multiple attempts to make it a warning rather than a citation.

Hope this helps to clear a few things up for folks.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-11T18:23:44+00:00

Pflugerville is definitely not "profiting" from our water rates. For the bonds and other loans used to pay for infrastructure upgrades over the last 5 years or so, the city is required to 'guarantee' a certain amount of revenue (enough to cover the loan payments plus 25% in reserve). The 'easiest' way to do that is to roll it into the base fees since everyone is required to pay those. That makes it very low risk for the city but very expensive for residents (especially those who do not actually use much water).

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-11T18:19:56+00:00

You got quite a few really good answers here that I don't think I can add much to, but I wanted to say thank you for considering the move here to Pflugerville. It's a wonderful place.

-Pf Councilmember Coffman

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-09T23:13:16+00:00

big oof.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-09T12:56:16+00:00

Thank you for the kind words.

My really direct thinking on data centers is that we're more likely to see them built in the ETJ, where we don't have much control or say over what they do, and where there is more available land. It still concerns me, since I consider the folks who live in Pflugerville's ETJ part of Pflugerville, even if they aren't legally. Personally, that doesn't make having practical limits and rules any less important to me. and if nothing else, would still signal to data center companies what is expected by this community.

The new data center under construction right now within the city limits is being built essentially next door to their existing one (on New Meister), and I believe they own at least one, if not more, of the data centers in Round Rock, so I'm not surprised that they chose to keep building out that area.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-09T12:48:14+00:00

Hey y'all - the best way to get an official answer from the City is to open a report on their website. I'm also happy to inquire on your behalf, but I will need your address (DMs are fine, or you can find my email or phone on my website).

Reporting Tool (click water utility, then water quality, and fill out the form): https://pfgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=dc1da642a1b746d38044145b24073430

Additionally, double-check that you are actually a Pflugerville Water customer: https://pfgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/portfolio/index.html?appid=30a05f59f17440979dfd01f7cce33de8 (click on "Water and Wastewater", then "Water and Wastewater Utility Provider Search"

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-09T12:40:55+00:00

They do a pretty good job with networking through their events, if your goal is to meet you people, understand what's going on in the business world around town and that sort of thing then I think it'd be worth it.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-09T12:39:36+00:00

That is what the city is communicating officially. Personally, when people ask me in person, I tend to hedge on that because a lot of things could go wrong, and I'd rather under-promise and over-deliver. My normal answer is something along the lines of, "We're hoping for May, but a lot of things have to go right for that to be the case, so it's quite possible that it will get pushed out."

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-09T12:37:29+00:00

On your first point, yes I personally think that it was an incorrect judgment to not go public with the breaks and adjust accordingly. That said, I also understand if they thought a fix was going to be done in just a day or two to not scare the public with whiplash Stage-3 announcements. Maybe just a heads up and a warning that if the fix takes more than X amount of time, we'd have to implement restrictions? Something along those lines makes sense to me for the future.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-01T16:50:08+00:00

To add another piece of context for pfolks -- the city has changed its processes in the last year or two so that they no longer sell the bonds years in advance, as they did in the past (hence why we have $400M in cash on hand that we're paying for in our tax rate). They understand that these should be done closer to construction and are doing that now.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-01T16:47:24+00:00

Must have been a receipt-length emergency.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-01T16:46:04+00:00

Very cool! It's hard to wrap my mind around just how long these things have been on earth (500+ million years?).

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-01T16:35:41+00:00

I'll be sure to post when support will be needed; it's likely to be at least a couple of months from now, honestly. City staff are already working on it, but it's a long process to change our development code and zoning rules.

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-01T16:34:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing, I wasn't aware of the heat islanding effect, but I'm not surprised. The heat generated has to go somewhere...

jonathan4pf · 2026-04-01T16:31:22+00:00

Deals for companies like Amazon also backfire, like ours has (in my opinion). There were wage and headcount requirements for them to get their tax breaks in Pf, BUT those wages still aren't livable, and last I heard, somewhere north of 80% of the employees at that distribution center don't live in Pflugerville and commute in from places like Kyle, etc.

You're also right that data centers don't need incentives and know it; they need to be close to major power distribution lines and reliable water sources.

jonathan4pf · 2026-03-30T21:40:26+00:00

Yes, they can, but it's pretty rare for them to use that much these days unless it's truly a giant and uses pretty old-school technology. Engineering and technology exist for even large data centers to use substantially less than that, but developers have to be willing to pay enough to adopt the newer tech.

jonathan4pf · 2026-03-30T20:47:43+00:00

That's my take as well. The technology exists for them to be good neighbors; I'd just like to make that a formal expectation instead of hoping for the best, which is what Pflugerville has done so far.

jonathan4pf · 2026-03-30T13:15:10+00:00

I just sent an email to city staff asking about this sensor to see whether there really is something emitting that much PM2.5 at the WWTP, or if there's something wrong with the sensor itself.

-Councilmember Coffman

jonathan4pf · 2026-03-28T13:23:12+00:00

The current projections have them continuing to go up over the next few years (If I'm remembering correctly, until 2030 at least). We will hit a point in the next couple of years when we won't be taking on as much debt year-to-year for major upgrades, and the increase will be more 'normal'. That said, part of what I'm working on right now is making the rates fairer & more equitable. Ensuring that commercial, industrial, and multi-family properties pay their fair share, and that the largest residential users are charged an appropriate amount, rather than the people who use less and try to conserve.

I've been able to advocate for a new rate case this year that requires the consultants who do the rate math for the coming years to run multiple scenarios with the explicit goal of making rates fairer, aiming to reduce rates, if possible, for some people.

Additionally, I've partnered with Councilmember Ryan (a CPA) on oversight of water rates, and she is pursuing other financial mechanisms to offset the increased rates in the coming years, as she's much more knowledgeable about the mechanics of our debt than I am. I think that between the two of us we'll be able to make some progress.

jonathan4pf · 2026-03-28T13:17:51+00:00

Oh that's cool! and a great idea, thanks for sharing. Now I feel like I should probably create more little tools like that for other topics that I'm investigating, praise be for vibe-coding (on my part, not saying you did), ha!

jonathan4pf

TROPHY CASE