Notice of Water and Wastewater Rate Increase
Dear Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 96 Resident, Commercial Property Customer, and Multifamily Property Customer:
This letter is to inform you about upcoming rate adjustments to your water and wastewater bills. These adjustments result from previous increases to the water and wastewater (also referred to as “sanitary sewer”) rates charged by the City of Houston (the “City”) to Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 96 (the “District”) and overall cost increases related to providing water and wastewater service.
The District serves over 2,000 residential homes, six apartment complexes, one school, and thirtyeight commercial customers. To provide water and wastewater service to these customers, the District purchases most of its water from the City of Houston and pays the City of Houston to treat its wastewater. In addition, the District operates and maintains the following facilities:
- Supplementary water well and water treatment facility;
- Water distribution system; and
- Wastewater collection system, including six lift stations.
Unfortunately, in recent years the costs to provide water and wastewater services and operate and maintain the water distribution and wastewater collection system have increased. Listed below are just a few of the costs that have increased over the past several years:
- City of Houston water rates charged to the District;
- City of Houston wastewater rates charged to the District;
- Operating and maintaining the water well and water treatment facility, including purchasing water treatment chemicals;
- Repairing water distribution and sewage collection infrastructure, and;
- Performing state required testing and monitoring.
In previous years the District’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) took deliberate steps to maintain competitive water and wastewater rates by subsidizing water and wastewater rates and absorbing rising operational costs and cutting expenses. In fact, the District has not increased its water and wastewater rates since 2019. Due to the continued growing costs, as described above, the Board made the decision to increase the District’s water and wastewater rates. The new rate structure incentivizes District customers to conserve water.
The total increase to the minimum water and wastewater bill for all single-family, residential accounts will be $2.59, broken down as a $1.00 and $1.59 increase to the residential water and wastewater rates, respectively. The minimum water and wastewater bill for single-family residential customers falling within the first tier was $52.47 and will now be $55.06. The Board has also increased the rates for the District’s commercial and multifamily customers. The new commercial account minimum water and wastewater bill will be $73.76 and multifamily accounts will be billed the same as residential homes multiplied by the number of units.
A detailed schedule of the approved water and wastewater rates is attached to this letter as Exhibit “A”. The increases described in Exhibit “A” take effect on March 1, 2026, and will be reflected on the statement you receive in April 2026 for the March 2026 billing cycle.
Should you have any questions about the rate changes, please contact the District’s Operator, Si Environmental, at 832-490-1601. If you wish to review the full Amended Rate Order, please visit https://www.hcwcid96.com.
Respectfully,
Board of Directors
Harris County Water Control and Improvement District No. 96