The water utility is seeking to raise Maricopa customers’ rates by 19.7% for water and 8% for wastewater. The company filed for the increases in March, a move that requires approval from the ACC.

“I learned on Thursday afternoon … that the company had a significant amount of documentation that they wanted to add or present to staff for evaluation … which appears to be quite voluminous,” Humphrey said.

Voluminous may be an understatement.

Documents submitted by Global Water on Wednesday total 4,399 pages. Humphrey said it could take department staff about two months to review the material.

Daniel Pozefsky, representing Arizona’s Residential Utility Consumer Office, raised concerns that the delay could push the case into summer amid other large proceedings. However, the office did not oppose the continuance.

“We’re not happy about it, [but] we’d rather get it done,” Pozefsky said.

A status meeting will be held online Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. to discuss a rescheduled hearing date.

Rate hike history

Global Water first raised the prospect of a rate increase early last year, when Regional Manager Andrew Miller cited unprecedented growth as a contributing factor.

In February, the utility said it anticipated an 11% increase spread over several years due to growth and inflation. At the time, Vice President and Regional Manager Jon Corwin said it would be the first increase since the pandemic.

“Our current rates are based on costs, a snapshot in time, from 2019,” he told InMaricopa. “Inflation since then has been significant for everything and inflation of utility costs, specifically, is up about 28% in that five-year period.”

That proposal later grew to nearly 20% in paperwork submitted to the ACC. Global Water said the increase would generate an additional $4.2 million annually and claimed the average customer would see about a $5 increase on monthly water bills.

Residents push back at hearing

Unlike the previous hearing, which ended within minutes without a single public comment, more than a dozen Maricopa residents spoke in person and by phone against the rate increase.

Maricopa Meadows resident Rocio Ibarra said the increase would create financial strain.

“I’m totally against the 20% increase as it is right now, which is paying $100 in fees and then after that, it’s our usage. I feel like that would really hurt us financially,” Ibarra said during the meeting.

Other residents echoed concerns about high monthly fees, overcharges, water quality, ongoing concerns related to a positive E. coli sample in August, and the feeling that the rate increase came as a surprise.

Vice Mayor Vincent Manfredi also spoke, noting the city has only one water provider and asking for “fairness, transparency and thorough weighing of evidence” before any decision is made.

“I fully support transparent discussions. I ask everyone to step up and speak their minds,” he said after the hearing.

City council candidate Tena Dugan spoke against the rate hike, calling it unfair to seniors, small households and residents on fixed incomes.

“Waste and wastewater are not optional services. People can’t shop around, they can’t cut back below a certain point and they can’t avoid the bill when it goes up,” she said.

Editor’s note: Vincent Manfredi owns InMaricopa.