The Pleasanton City Council will be voting on updating the city’s utility discount program, including lowering the maximum amount of water one can use to qualify for the discount and capping the total amount of General Fund dollars the city will set aside for the discount program.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, staff will present six updates to the senior and low-income utility discount programs along with alternatives for the council to review and discuss before making their decision — if approved, the updates will take effect March 1, 2026. The vote comes a month after the council previously discussed whether the city should condense the two programs, along with other eligibility criteria and additional funding specifics.
“Staff researched the utility bill discount program and found that the program should be updated to clarify the eligibility criteria, ensure fiscal sustainability over time and better align the programs with other water distributors in the Tri-Valley region,” the Oct. 21 staff report states.
Over the past year, as the city underwent its process of updating and increasing its utility rates, one topic that kept coming up was what to do with the city’s two separate utility discount programs.
For years, the city has offered a 20% discount for single-family residents based on the age — they had to be at least 65 years or older — regardless of income level and a separate 30% discount for residents who qualify as a low-income family.
To qualify for the low-income program, the registered account holder must participate in the PG&E CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy) Program, which “caps household income eligibility at $53,000 or less for a family of three.”
Residents cannot apply for both discounts and the discounts only apply to Pleasanton’s and the Zone 7 Water Agency’s fixed and variable charges for water and Pleasanton’s fixed charges for sewer.
According to the staff report, the senior discount program currently has approximately 3,200 enrolled customers while the low-income program currently has approximately 225 enrolled customers.
“Under the current program, the city limits the discount to only apply when the water customer’s bi-monthly water consumption is less than or equal to 30-hundred cubic feet (ccf),” according to the staff report.
Back in May, as the council debated and reviewed the now approved water rate increases and other utility rate updates, staff had originally recommended eliminating the senior discount program. However, since then, staff have analyzed both programs further and brought the programs back on Sept. 16 for further input.
After reviewing and evaluating the council’s direction from the Sept. 16 meeting, staff will now be returning with final recommendations to clarify eligibility criteria, which staff believes will help the programs align better with other water retailers in the Tri-Valley.
“Since funding for the utility discount program is paid for by the General Fund, not the utility Enterprise Funds, it is necessary to define a discount program that is both reasonable and sustainable within the City’s General Fund budget,” staff wrote in Tuesday’s agenda report.
Some of the listed updates staff is recommending to the council include applying the discount to Pleasanton’s and Zone 7’s fixed and variable charges for water and Pleasanton’s fixed charges for sewer; reducing the maximum water usage to receive the discount to 24-hundred cubic feet (ccf); and capping the maximum total General Fund budget for the discount program at $425,000.
Other recommendations include maintaining the requirement to prove residency in the city to be eligible for the discount; continuing discount applications to low-income facilities, senior facilities and residents in facilities with a shared master meter; and adopting a 30% utility bill discount to qualified low-income customers under the PG&E CARE Program.
Staff will also provide two alternatives for the council to consider: a two-tiered discount program at 80% area median income for seniors and a similar two-tiered program at 100% area median income for seniors.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 21). The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business:
* The council will be reviewing the key terms of a pre-annexation and development agreement between the city and a developer for the proposed Arroyo Lago residential development project, which is set to bring nearly 200 new homes to East Pleasanton.
While no formal action will be taken, the negotiations of the terms for the Pre-Annexation and Development Agreement (PADA) between Pleasanton and 330 Land Company — the developer behind the project — are considered by staff to be an “essential part of the application review, since its terms significantly affect the project’s acceptability as a development within Pleasanton for both the city and the applicant.”
“While the City Council’s direction at this meeting is not binding … early direction on the PADA’s key terms is sought to provide more certainty to both parties as the project moves forward to public hearings in early 2026,” according to the staff report.
The discussion comes off the heels of an Alameda County Planning Commission meeting where the commission was set to certify an environmental impact report and approve a vesting tentative tract map subdivision for the Arroyo Lago residential development project, which would be located at 3030 Mohr Ave.
Back in February, the council directed staff to accept and process an application for annexation and development of the Arroyo Lago project but while the application is being processed, the developer has also been going through the development process with the county.
The main difference between the county version of the project and the version being discussed at the city level is that the county version maintains the originally proposed 194 homes while the city’s version of the project proposes to build 189 single-family homes, according to the Pleasanton City Council agenda packet.
While staff and the developer are in agreement with most of the terms under the Pre-Annexation and Development Agreement, one major disagreement of note is regarding the “Public Benefit Contribution for El Charro Road,” which outlines how much the developer should contribute for road improvements on El Charro Road. The developer is proposing to spend $2.25 million while city staff suggest the developer should contribute $3 million.
The council will look to provide further direction on eight key terms of the agreement, which would be “incorporated into a formal PADA for consideration and approval in conjunction with the project entitlements expected in early 2026.”
* Staff will be seeking council’s approval of the city’s Long-Term Sewer Capital Improvement Plan, which includes prioritized sewer-related projects over a 20 year period, that can be implemented under three different scenarios.
* During the consent calendar portion of the meeting, the council will vote on authorizing City Manager Gerry Beaudin to execute a $249,982 professional services agreement with Citygate Associates — a local government consultant firm — to conduct a comprehensive citywide organizational assessment.
Consent Calendar items are considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote.
The 12-month assessment, according to staff, will “evaluate operational efficiencies, organizational structure, staffing resources, customer service delivery, and revenue opportunities.”
* As part of the consent calendar, the council will vote on adopting a resolution to allow Beaudin to enter into an agreement with the county to allow the exchange of property tax revenue associated with the annexation of the Merritt Property — a 111-lot, 46-acre residential subdivision — into the city.
* Also under the consent calendar portion of the meeting, the council will be set to approve plans, review bids and authorize Beaudin to enter into a construction contract with B and D Excavation and Construction in the amount of $2,665,540 for the Valley Avenue Soundwall Repair Project, which aims to “stabilize 6,750 linear feet of existing precast soundwall.
* Staff will be seeking council’s approval to authorize Beaudin to enter into a $182,721 professional services agreement with WSP USA for “construction management and inspection support services” related to the first phase of the West Las Positas Multimodal Reconstruction Project.
The item also seeks council approval to enter into a third amendment to the professional services agreement with Mark Thomas & Company, Inc. for an additional $222,173.44 to complete the full design for the reconstruction project, bringing the total cost for the design to nearly $3 million. With these approvals, staff will also be looking for the council to approve $1.7 million in budget amendments to the city’s Miscellaneous Capital Improvement Program Grants Fund.
