Public Comments from April 7, 2026 Regular Council Meeting Re Water and Wastewater Rates.docx

Tom Berry – Comments on Water and Wastewater Rate Schedule Summary 
 
Tom Berry, a resident of Sun City Festival, stated that most Festival Ranch 
residents accept the need for a rate increase but disagree with how HOA rates 
are determined and assessed.  
 
He explained that most HOA water use is for common area landscaping, and 
placing HOAs in a commercial rate category (based on meter size or 
consumption) is unfair, as commercial entities can absorb higher costs through 
pricing models, while HOAs pass costs directly to residents.  
 
Tom suggested creating a separate rate category for HOAs, reflecting their 
primarily residential use, which would be more widely accepted by the 
community. 
Tom Berry – Comments on Water and Wastewater Rate Schedule Verbatim 
Good evening, Mr. Mayor, councilmembers, staff. My name is Tom Berry. I am a 
resident of Sun City Festival, which is a 55 plus community within the Festival Ranch 
community in Extreme District 4. I believe that the majority of the residents in Festival 
Ranch understand the need for a rate increase. We are also acceptable of the 
inevitability of that rate increase. There is not that consensus, however, on how the HOA 
rates are going to be determined and assessed. For example, the vast majority of the 
HOA water consumption is to service the common areas of the community, the 
landscape needs of the common areas of the community. In an ideal world, it would be 
nice to have residential rates to service that extension of the residential portion of the 
community. But realistically, the bottom line is not going to support something like that. 
However, to put the HOA into commercial category, via the size of the meter or because 
of the inevitable consumption, is also not right. There should be another category 
dedicated to HOA. The HOA, particularly in a large community like Festival Ranch, has 
a vast number of meter sizes that basically do the same thing in order to serve its 
different sizes of common area. So to put it into a commercial type rate, where a 
commercial company, via their pricing models and their cost of goods sold, can absorb 
a price higher for water, in a residential community, HOA community, residents 
themselves absorb that as a direct pass through the HOA to the residents via an 
increased assessment for HOA fees. I think that it would be much wider accepted if 
there was a category for HOA with the rates to determine because of HOA use, which is 
basically residential versus commercial. Happy to answer any questions you may have. 
Steve Sterling – Comments on Water and Wastewater Rate Schedule Summary 
 Steve Sterling, a Buckeye resident, acknowledged the postponement of the 
water rate issue and noted ongoing state-level negotiations for water rights, 
which impact farmers and lead to rising rates in other cities.

 He recalled Buckeye officials previously assuring residents of a healthy water 
situation, but now, with proposed rate increases, he questioned whether past 
information was accurate.  
 Steve urged the council to consider delaying any rate increase for at least 12 
months to help families struggling with rising costs, emphasizing the importance 
of maintaining residents’ confidence in the city’s water management. 
Steve Sterling – Comments on Water and Wastewater Rate Schedule Verbatim 
Good evening. I'm Steve Sterling. I'm a resident of Buckeye, acknowledging that this 
issue is pushed back a little bit just to give maybe a little food for thought on the water 
issue, because it seems like we're back here as a state and a city again when it comes 
down to water. We know that the state officials are trying to negotiate more water rights, 
which directly impact our farmers and therefore everything kind of rolls downhill with 
other municipalities raising their rates, Gilbert, so in Goodyear, so forth, as high as 25%. 
I do recall, I believe it was 2023, we were in the news about water again about how 
healthy our water situation was. And Buckeye officials were saying that we have secure 
water, we have what we're doing, we're very healthy when it comes down to water. Even 
one official saying that the media was sensationalizing the water issue and that 
Buckeye is doing quite well. And so as a resident, I felt good about where we were, 
because I don't know anything about the desert, you know, so if a guy's telling us water 
is good, water is good. You see the farms, water is flowing is good. We see all the 
housing going up, water must be good. And so now, two years later, we're back with the 
water situation where we're thinking about raising rates. And whether it's misinformation, 
miscalculation, or whatever it is, I guess it doesn't matter at this point. But it's inevitable 
that the water is going to go up with the state's situation when it comes down to water. I 
only hope to encourage the council to at least delay 12 months maybe, any type of 
increase in water. Because while a family such as myself, my household, we can 
tolerate an increase, I know families who are already bending at the cost of everything 
else. Everything that has their name on has an arrow. going up. And so even a small 
delay of 12 months of the inevitable can go a long way with families who are negatively 
impacted by unfortunate natures of the desert. So I'd like you to just please consider 
that not only tonight, but into the next meeting, into the future, to see if we can better 
help out Buckeye residents and give us that confidence that at least an individual like 
myself had three years ago. Thank you.