For a Coral Gables sewer customer using 6,732 gallons of water a month, the monthly bill will jump $16.77 beginning Oct. 1 — from $77.88 to $94.65.
That is a 21.5% increase in one year.
Under projections presented to the City Commission Tuesday, the same bill would reach $110.06 by fiscal 2031, about 41% above today’s level. Those later figures are estimates and could change as Miami-Dade County adjusts what it charges Coral Gables for wastewater treatment.
Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve Resolution No. 2026-232, establishing a sanitary sewer rate schedule through 2031. Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson moved the item and Commissioner Richard Lara seconded. Anderson, Lara, Commissioner Melissa Castro and Mayor Vince Lago voted yes. Commissioner Ariel Fernandez was absent.
What is driving the increase
Coral Gables operates its sewer utility as an enterprise fund. It receives no money from the city’s general fund and must collect enough from customers to pay its operating, maintenance and capital costs.
A large share of the new pressure comes from the Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department, or WASD, which treats and disposes of the city’s wastewater.
Each year, WASD compares its projected wholesale costs with its actual audited expenses and issues what it calls a “true-up” — either a credit or an additional charge.
For Coral Gables, those adjustments once worked in the city’s favor. From fiscal 2018 through 2023, they produced $685,302 in credits.
The direction then reversed.
From fiscal 2024 through 2026, Coral Gables incurred $682,379 in additional charges. The fiscal 2027 true-up alone is $1.36 million.
WASD also forecasts a 15% increase in its cost of service for fiscal 2027. Rather than impose the entire increase immediately, the county is spreading it over multiple years. Its wholesale rate will rise 6.24% this year, with the remaining 8.76% expected to be recovered in fiscal 2028 and 2029, on top of whatever other increases occur in those years.
Coral Gables currently expects to spend about $7 million this fiscal year for the county to receive, treat and dispose of its wastewater.
The city also has its own system to maintain: 35 sewer basins, 35 pump stations, 64 miles of gravity mains, 14 miles of force mains and roughly 1,400 manholes.
City documents say the higher rates will cover increased county disposal costs while also paying for system maintenance, planned sewer improvements and future emergencies. The city’s agenda memo estimates the new fee schedule will generate an additional $4.2 million for the sanitary sewer fund.
Rates through 2031 can still change
Sewer customers do not pay a single flat rate.
Bills include charges based on monthly water consumption, fixed maintenance and capital-improvement charges that vary by meter size, and a county billing charge.
For the moderate user highlighted in the city’s presentation — 6,732 gallons, or 9 CCF, a month — the projected bill is:
- $77.88 currently
- $94.65 in fiscal 2027
- $101.04 in fiscal 2028
- $105.02 in fiscal 2029
- $107.41 in fiscal 2030
- $110.06 in fiscal 2031
The first increase amounts to about $201 more a year. If the 2031 projection holds, that customer’s annual sewer cost would be about $386 higher than today.
The commission’s resolution establishes the rate schedule through 2031, but the later numbers are not immutable. The city may raise or lower them administratively if WASD changes its wholesale rates, true-up charges or other pass-through costs. Any such adjustment is limited to the amount needed to cover the county’s change.
Lago calls increases ‘very disappointing’
Before the vote, Lago focused much of his criticism on Miami-Dade County.
“It’s very disappointing to see the massive increases that are forthcoming,” he said.
Lago contrasted the county’s situation with Coral Gables’ efforts to plan for pension obligations, replace its vehicle fleet and maintain city buildings and infrastructure.
He also warned that residents could see more costs passed down from the county as regional water and waste-disposal problems grow.
“They’re going to continue to pass it on to cities and pass it on to residents,” Lago said.
Lago pointed to Miami-Dade’s looming waste-disposal problems and said Coral Gables needs to find ways to reduce its dependence on county systems. He cited the city’s effort to handle more of its own green waste, an initiative he said has been discussed since 2017.
The city’s own materials describe the sewer increase more broadly than a straight county pass-through. In addition to higher WASD costs, the new rates are intended to support maintenance and improvements to Coral Gables’ sewer system.
Resident points to separate stormwater charge
During public comment, resident Maria Cruz raised a different charge appearing on residents’ water bills.
Cruz said she recently examined a bill totaling $92 even though the water itself cost about $15. That led her to look more closely at Coral Gables’ separate stormwater fee.
She told commissioners the city charges $75 every three months, or $300 a year, and said information she obtained showed unincorporated Miami-Dade County charging $22 per quarter. She questioned whether residents should face higher sewer costs while already paying the city’s stormwater charge.
The stormwater fee is separate from the sanitary sewer rates commissioners approved Tuesday. It was not changed by Resolution No. 2026-232.
Commissioners approved the sewer rates unanimously without further discussion.
