HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/21/2026 Item 8a, Floyd and Whittington - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: April 21, 2026
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Aaron Floyd, Public Works and Utilities Director
Prepared By: Shane Whittington, Utilities Business Manager
VIA: Whitney McDonald, City Manager
SUBJECT: ITEM 8a - 2026 WATER AND SEWER RATE STRUCTURE STUDY
Staff received the following question regarding the City’s Customer Assistance Program
(CAP). The questions are below with staff’s response shown in italics:
1) On the webpage linked in the staff report about CAP (Lower Your Utility Bill
| City of San Luis Obispo, CA), the criteria for people who qualify for the
program is listed. How did we come to these criteria? Specifically, I’m
curious about the “household income less than twice the Federal Poverty
Level (FPL)” criteria. That income is extremely low. Have we ever thought of
increasing that to 2.5 times, or 3 times?
The original eligibility criteria for the Customer Assistance Program (CAP) were
established on October 6, 1992 (R-8073) and were based on co-enrollment in
relevant federal and state assistance programs. On June 1, 2021 (R-11254),
Council expanded eligibility to include households with incomes less than two
times the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), providing a locally administered pathway
for customers who may not be enrolled in other programs.
The current 2x FPL threshold is generally consistent with comparable programs
offered by utilities such as PG&E and SoCalGas, as well as other state-
administered assistance programs. The rationale for this consistency was to offer
a lower barrier pathway for customers who already qualify for assistance with other
providers. It was also for this reason that if a customer received government
assistance from CalWorks, CalFresh, Supplemental Social Security, or Medi-Cal,
the City would allow that to qualify for the CAP.
These assistance program thresholds are in the table below.
ITEM 8a - 2026 WATER AND SEWER RATE STRUCTURE STUDY Page 2
It is worth noting that PGE and SoCal Gas both combine their 1-2 person
households income limits, using the higher number.
For additional context, the median household income in the City of San Luis
Obispo is approximately $76,000. As shown in the table below, expanding
eligibility to 2.5x or 3x FPL would result in some qualifying income thresholds
exceeding the City’s median household income, depending on household size
(highlighted in yellow).
If Council gave staff direction to modify the CAP, staff would include a discussion
of potential modifications in the future rate setting process that will occur as a part
of the Financial Plan process for Fiscal Year 2027-29 to allow for rate impact
analysis to occur.