{"id":448,"date":"2026-08-04T13:57:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T18:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/?p=448"},"modified":"2026-08-23T15:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T20:37:16","slug":"seguintx-com-water-and-wastewater-rates-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/seguintx-com-water-and-wastewater-rates-debate\/news\/","title":{"rendered":"Water and Wastewater Rates Up for Debate in Seguin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Seguin City Councilmembers will consider changes to the City’s water and wastewater rates<\/strong> during their August 4 meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed ordinance would amend the City’s existing water and wastewater rate schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A related item on the consent agenda also involves the Schertz\/Seguin Local Government Corporation<\/strong>, which provides a significant portion of the region’s water supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water may become one of the most important infrastructure issues facing Seguin as our community continues to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

More Homes and Businesses Mean More Demand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seguin<\/a> is experiencing substantial development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large residential communities are under construction or in the planning process. Industrial facilities continue locating and expanding in the region. Commercial development is following population growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every new home and business creates additional demand on water and wastewater systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means the City must plan not just for today’s population, but for what Seguin may look like ten, twenty or thirty years from now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water supply, treatment capacity, storage, pumping facilities, wastewater treatment and distribution infrastructure all have to keep pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents Deserve to Understand the Cost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Utility rate studies can be complicated, but the questions residents need answered are relatively simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much will the average residential customer pay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does the proposed rate compare with the current rate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much of the increase is related to purchasing or producing water?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much is needed for infrastructure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much is associated with wastewater treatment and system expansion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And perhaps most importantly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much of the cost of growth is being paid by new development versus existing customers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth should help strengthen Seguin’s tax and utility base. However, the infrastructure necessary to support that growth can be extremely expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact fees, developer-funded infrastructure and other financing mechanisms should be structured so that existing residents are not unfairly required to subsidize new development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water Reliability Matters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seguin and Guadalupe County are located in a rapidly growing part of Texas where long-term water availability cannot be taken for granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drought, population growth and increasing industrial demand all make water planning increasingly important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That does not mean Seguin should stop growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means growth should occur alongside responsible planning for water availability and infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents should expect city leaders to understand not only how much water is available today, but how future development affects long-term system reliability.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Join<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wastewater Infrastructure Is Equally Important<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wastewater rarely receives the same public attention as water supply, but it is just as important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New subdivisions and businesses require treatment capacity, sewer mains, lift stations and other infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failures to properly plan wastewater capacity can eventually restrict development or require extremely expensive emergency improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seguin should remain ahead of those problems instead of reacting to them later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Question of Balance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Better Seguin<\/a> believes reliable water and wastewater service is fundamental to maintaining our community’s quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investing in infrastructure is necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, affordability matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before approving changes to utility rates, residents should be given understandable information showing what the changes mean for a normal household and why the additional revenue is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seguin’s growth brings tremendous opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good planning requires making sure the infrastructure supporting that growth remains reliable, affordable and financially sustainable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seguin City Council meets Tuesday, August 4 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 210 E. Gonzales Street.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seguin City Councilmembers will consider changes to the City’s water and wastewater rates during their August 4 meeting. The proposed ordinance would amend the City’s existing water and wastewater rate schedules. A related item on the consent agenda also involves the Schertz\/Seguin Local Government Corporation, which provides a significant portion of the region’s water supply….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,36,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-utilities","category-water-supply"],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-150x150.png",150,150,true],"post_slider_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-1200x800.png",1200,800,true],"post_slider_layout_portrait_large":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-1200x941.png",1200,941,true],"post_slider_layout_square_large":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-1200x941.png",1200,941,true],"post_slider_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-600x400.png",600,400,true],"post_slider_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-600x900.png",600,900,true],"post_slider_layout_square":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026-600x600.png",600,600,true],"full":["https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WaterRate_Aug2026.png",1672,941,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betterseguin.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}