New Rate Schedule in Effect July 1, 2025

After a nine-month process pursuant to requirements set forth in California’s Proposition 218, the SCV Water Board of Directors concluded its rate study and voted to implement proposed rate changes following a public hearing on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. The water rate adjustments will go into effect July 1, 2025, and increase per the approved schedule on July 1 of each subsequent year in the rate study (2026, 2027, 2028, 2029).

“The approved rate proposal will help ensure SCV Water meets its financial obligations so it can continue to provide high-quality water to customers,” said SCV Water Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Rochelle Patterson. “We are thankful to the many SCV Water customers who participated in this important process by attending a public meeting or workshop and providing feedback.”

The entire process was a collaborative effort between SCV Water staff, the Board of Directors, and staff from RDN, the Agency’s independent ratepayer advocate. SCV Water’s Cost of Service and Rate Design began in July 2024 and consisted of seven phases:

1. Data Collection
2. Revenue Requirements
3. Cost of Service Study
4. Rate Design Analysis
5. Administrative Record – Prop 218 Notice Creation
6. Communication
7. Public Hearing and Rate Adoption

As a public agency, SCV Water cannot earn a profit from the services it provides. The Agency must charge no more than the actual costs associated with providing water services to its customers.

Beginning July 1, SCV Water customers will see a change in their Water Use Charge, which is based on the amount of water used during a billing cycle. The rate will increase from $2.52 to $2.77 per ccf, with one ccf equaling 748 gallons of water. Additionally, monthly Fixed charges, which vary by meter size, will also increase. For the average SCV Water customer with a ¾-inch meter, the charge will go from $22.21 to $23.60 per month.

Changes have also been approved for Legacy Debt charges and Private Fire charges. Full cost breakdowns by meter size over the entire study period (July 2025 – June 2030) can be found by visiting yourSCVWater.com/rate-planning.

Before approving the new rates, SCV Water conducted extensive public outreach and education. This included multiple online community meetings, presentations at Board of Director and Committee meetings, and an online bill estimator tool to help customers understand how the changes would affect them.

The Rate Planning webpage (yourSCVwater.com/rate-planning) served as a central resource, providing access to the Ratepayer Advocate Report and 2025 Retail Water Rate Analysis and Rate Design Study. It also features helpful customer resources, such as an online question form, a guide on how to read your water bill, and information about the Agency’s Ratepayer Assistance Program.

Customers may review all materials online at the Rate Planning webpage listed above.

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About SCV Water:
The Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency (SCV Water) is a full-service regional water agency located in the Santa Clarita Valley. SCV Water provides water service to approximately 75,000 business and residential customers. It was formed on January 1, 2018, when local water suppliers combined into one integrated, regional water provider. More information can be found at yourSCVwater.com.

The City of Santa Clarita encourages residents to dispose of their unwanted household hazardous and electronic waste at the FREE Household Hazardous/E-Waste Collection Event on Saturday, April 5, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This event will take place at College of the Canyons South Parking Lot at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road.

The Household Hazardous/E-Waste Collection Event is a safe and free opportunity for residents to dispose of their hazardous household and electronic waste (e-waste), including antifreeze, paint, paint thinner, turpentine, motor oil, oil filters, brake fluid, cleaners with acid or lye, pool chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides, household batteries or car batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, unwanted or expired prescription medications, televisions, computers and other miscellaneous electronics such as cell phones, printers and stereos. Needles or sharps disposal will require exiting your vehicle in a designated location to deposit them in a bin.

In preparation for the event, waste items should be packed in a sturdy box, preferably in their original labeled container, in the trunk of the participant’s vehicle. Participants should be prepared to leave any containers or boxes at the collection site and must remain in their vehicle while trained staff removes the hazardous waste from the vehicle’s trunk.

Items not eligible for disposal include:

• Ammunition, radioactive materials and explosives
• Controlled substances and biohazardous
  • “White goods” including refrigerators, water heaters and other similar domestic appliances
• Waste from businesses

All Los Angeles County residents are welcome to attend the Household Hazardous Waste/E-Waste Collection event. Reservations are not needed to participate. A transportation limit of 125 pounds or 15 gallons per vehicle is enforced. Reminder: attendees must remain in their vehicles and event staff will only remove waste from a vehicle’s trunk or pick-up bed.

This event is hosted by the City of Santa Clarita, in partnership with the County of Los Angeles and organized by the Department of Public Works and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County.

For more information about the Household Hazardous Waste/E-Waste Collection Event and additional household hazardous waste permanent collection centers, visit PW.LACounty.gov/EPD/HHW/ or call (888) CLEAN LA. Visit GreenSantaClarita.com to learn more about upcoming green events and other resources.

Rocky, the youngest Javan gibbon at the Gibbon Conservation Center in Saugus, will turn 2 years old on July 2, and the Center is seeking help in getting him a birthday gift.

Rocky was rejected at birth by his mother and has been raised by the experts and volunteers at the Gibbon Center.

A fundraising effort to build “Rocky’s House,” an enclosure for the youngster has raised enough money to build a structure with insulation, specialty windows and plenty of attachment points for enrichment.

However, the structure still needs specialty paint, a specialty heating and air conditioning unit with the potential to hook up to solar panels and platforms for sleeping and relaxing.

The Gibbon Conservation Center was established in 1976 by Alan Richard Mootnick who died in 2011.

The center houses the rarest group of apes in the Western Hemisphere. It is the only institution in the world to house and breed all four genera of gibbon, an endangered small ape, and has successfully reproduced seven gibbon species.

The center also provides observation and non-invasive research opportunities for students and scientists.

To donate click here.

For more information about the Gibbon Conservation Center, how to visit the center or to donate click here.

Running a business or managing a team tends to come with a lot of responsibilities and tasks. So it’s not surprising that there are some things that get lost in the mix––put off until you have “more time” (when does that happen?!) or ignored until they become impossible to avoid.

There are some things that tend to be overlooked that really should be a bigger priority because of how they impact your overall operations or marketing. Today, our experienced team of EAs are weighing in with 4 overlooked tips for business owners based on what they’ve seen with their executive clients and on our own team at Elevate.

Keep reading to find out if you’re ignoring or avoiding any of these important tasks. If you are, we’ll give you some advice for making them a priority without adding even more to your to-do list.

Tips for business owners with direct reports

Whether your team is you and one other support person or you’re directly responsible for a dozen team members, one-on-one check-ins are a crucial part of being an effective manager.

However, a one-on-one is often the first thing to get moved off the calendar when other meetings, requests, and deadlines pop up.

Don’t make this mistake!

Regular, face-to-face check-ins with your team members give you a chance to:

• Have back-and-forth, direct dialogue without dealing with long gaps in communication or timezone differences if your team is spread out.
• Give and receive feedback. You can share what’s going well and where the team member needs to make changes or improvements while also opening the conversation to receive feedback as a leader.
• Get more help! Regular conversations about what you’re working on allow your team members to spot new ways they can support your work that you may have not thought to ask for.

Bookkeeping isn’t just for tax season

Oh, bookkeeping. One of the most common business tasks that is ignored by CEOs and business owners… until it’s tax time.

While having updated books will make tax time less stressful, having a consistent bookkeeping system and software is about a LOT more than just taxes.

• Consistent bookkeeping allows you to anticipate what you're going to spend.
• Understanding financial patterns will dramatically improve your planning and budgeting abilities.
• Seeing when each platform or software charges shows where you can switch to an annual plan to save money.

Marketing tips for business owners

If someone asked you about the foundation of your marketing strategy, you would probably talk about your brand messaging and identity.

You use words and the logo, colors, fonts, and brand marks to communicate what you do, who it’s for, and why it matters.

But there’s another foundational element of your branding that says a LOT about your brand, team, culture, values, and priorities… but many CEOs and business owners don’t prioritize this like they do their copy and visual brand.

Brand photos.

Take 2 minutes and scan the images that are currently on your website and social media.

Do they tell the whole story you want people to know about your brand and team?

Instead of putting off-brand photos for years, we recommend scheduling a session at least once a year.

Up-to-date brand photos reflect your business’s evolution and highlight new team members, services, or ideal clients.

Skipping this task is costing you time

Think about how much extra space you would have in your calendar if you never had to answer another question about “How do I do this?” again.

Imagine the freedom of handing off task after task to someone else on your team without having to sit down and explain everything. Just effortlessly delegating without any extra input from you!

It all starts with SOPs –– Standard Operating Procedures.

SOPs are clearly written or recorded steps and processes for completing repeatable tasks in your business.

Things that should have a documented SOP include:

• Onboarding
• Customer service
• Lead generation
• Data storage
• File access
• HR
• Event planning
• Scheduling social media
• Uploading blogs
• Calendar management

Don’t sweat it if writing SOPs feels overwhelming or confusing. Our expert team can handle the entire process for you in just 2-6 weeks.

SOPs ensure that every repeatable action or process in your business can be successfully delegated without additional instructions.

Which of these 4 overlooked tips for business owners will you implement first?

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Tariffs on Canada and Mexico will have a real, devastating impact on American businesses of all sizes, as well as on workers and consumers. The 25% tariffs on most goods from two of the top U.S. trading partners are creating uncertainty and financial strain, particularly for businesses that rely on imported materials.
 

What they’re saying: Business owners worry about the tariffs’ immediate and damaging effects to their operations.

• Traci Tapani, Vice-Chair of the U.S. Chamber’s Small Business Council and co-president of Wyoming Machine, a sheet metal fabricator in Minnesota, said, "My company will feel an immediate, detrimental impact as a result of these tariffs. The threats and uncertainty have made it hard to make business decisions, and these kinds of tariffs will make it extremely difficult for small businesses like mine to grow."
• Bill Baburek, owner of Crescent Moon in Omaha, Nebraska, told a local news outlet that even the threat of tariffs affected his supply chain: "Ever since the announcement there was going to be tariffs on Mexico and Canada, we saw prices on all materials, including domestic materials, start to increase."
• “[Lumber] has already been getting more expensive over the past few years due to supply chain shocks and wildfires, and a huge proportion of our lumber comes from Canada,” said Bar Zakheim, Owner of Better Place Design & Build in San Diego, California, to the Baltimore Sun. “These tariffs are going to make everything we do considerably more expensive at a time when the high-priced housing market and high interest rates are already cutting into our bottom line.”

Why it matters: More than 41 million American jobs depend on trade, and 97% of the American companies that export are small and medium-sized businesses. See how your state benefits from trade with this interactive map.
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Our take: “American families and businesses are struggling with high costs. It’s one of the top issues that they want policymakers to address,” said U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President Neil Bradley.
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• “The Chamber supports the administration’s efforts to advance pro-growth policies like fewer regulations and less taxation that will grow our economy and expand opportunity; and to fix serious problems like our broken border and stopping the flow of fentanyl in this country. We also want to work together to keep costs down, but tariffs will only raise prices and increase the economic pain being felt by everyday Americans across the country.”

Learn more:

Tariffs on Imports Rocking Small Businesses as They Scramble to Adapt

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