New water resource fee amount proposed to Queen Creek council

Queen Creek is closing in on establishing a new water resource fee to pay for its purchases of Harquahala groundwater and the infrastructure needed to bring it to town as it continues to work toward water independence.

At its Sept. 2 meeting, the Queen Creek Town Council heard staff’s proposal for the water resource fee and how it would affect customers.

“This process we’re going through is establishing Queen Creek’s water future over the next century. The process that … is going through right now with the council is just a continuation of that implementation,” said Marc Skocypec, the town’s utilities director, in an interview after the meeting. “When (our customers) read about the shortages that are occurring on the Colorado River, I want them to understand that the actions that Queen Creek is doing are insulating us from what’s going on the Colorado River.”

The recommended water resource fee presented to council would be $3.07 per 1,000 gallons of water, based on metered use.

The proposal also includes a credit based on the water the town receives back through the wastewater system to offset groundwater pumping. The proposed credits would be given to residents with a combined water and wastewater town utility account.

According to the presentation, a residential customer with a combined account who uses 10,000 gallons of water a month would have a new water resource fee of $30.70, minus a $12.28 effluent credit for a total of $18.40 in the first year. Combined with a monthly $39.44 water delivery fee, the total monthly bill would be $57.86.

Customers who use 10,000 gallons a month but only have a water account with the town utility would not get the effluent credit. For them, the total monthly bill with the water delivery fee, the new water resource fee of $30.70 in year one and no credit would be $70.14 a month.

Increases to the fee will be phased in over five years.

The new water resource fee will be used to pay for 1.7 million acre-feet of Harquahala basin water that the town purchased in 2025 for a total of $285 million. An acre-foot is enough water to cover 1 acre in 1 foot of water, or about 326,000 gallons.

The fee will also pay for the millions of dollars needed to get the water out of the Harquahala and move it to the Central Arizona Project canal that will deliver the water.

The water resource fee will replace the Central Arizona Groundwater Replenishment District assessment on customer property tax bills, including the amount the town has been offsetting for its water customers since 2018.

Over the past eight years, Queen Creek has been offsetting CAGRD costs to its water customers at the highest allowable rate, saving them $71 million.

“Our goal as part of this transition is to use as many of those credits as we can in the near term to reduce the cash pressure on both our customers and the water resource fee,” Skocypec said.

Currently, customers see the CAGRD fee on their property tax bill, but it will eventually transition to water bills.

“One of the things we are looking to work out an agreement with the CAGRD in order to assume that customer responsibility as soon as our new fee goes in place. The best-case scenario is the customers don’t see CAGRD at all on their (property) bills and they only see the water resource fee on the Queen Creek (water) bills,” Queen Creek Deputy Town Manager and CFO Scott McCarty said after the meeting. “Worst case scenario, we have to develop some sort of credit or other things so that customers won’t be paying twice. But our goal and our objective is to make sure our customers are only paying one fee.”

While working on setting up the infrastructure necessary to transport the water to Queen Creek, staff is also working on the town’s ultimate goal of becoming a designated water provider, eliminating its dependence on CAGRD.

Town staff’s current timeline has 2031 as the year Queen Creek becomes a designated provider and Harquahala water begins flowing, McCarty said.

With the proposed fee now before it, the council’s next step is a vote on whether to adopt a notice of intent at its Sept. 16 meeting. If approved, that will set up a public hearing and possible council vote for Nov. 18.

If council approves the fee, it will become effective on Jan. 27, with the first bill reflecting the fee on March 9.

To provide more information to residents, the town will hold a public meeting 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, at Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway. For those who can’t make the meeting, staff will be holding open houses each week through Nov. 17 at the Municipal Services Building, 22358 S. Ellsworth Road. For dates and times visit queencreekaz.gov.

Janet Perez can be reached at jperez@iniusa.org. Please send your comments about this article to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.