Local government: Proposition 218 Omnibus Implementation Act: proportional cost of service.

Header changed from legislative session format with coauthors and introduction date to standard enrolled bill format showing passage by the Senate on August 18, 2026 and the Assembly on August 19, 2026, plus Governor receipt and approval lines.

Line numbers (line 1 through line 24) that marked each line of the statutory text were removed in the enrolled version.

The vote summary line (majority vote, no appropriation, no fiscal committee, no state-mandated local program) was removed as is standard for enrolled bills.

New subdivision (d) excludes fees for water connections, sewer connections, and capacity charges from the bill's provisions, subject to Section 66013. Local governments cannot use the flexible cost-allocation or tiered-rate methods authorized by this bill for those fee types.

Subdivision (a) data-substantiation language was cleaned up from 'existing or reasonably estimated historic, existing, estimated, or projected data' to 'historic, existing, estimated, or projected data,' removing redundant and contradictory phrasing.

Subdivision (b) changed 'uniform or tiered fees or charges rates' to 'uniform or tiered rates,' and subdivision (c)(1) changed 'fee or charge tiered rate for water service' to 'tiered rate for water service,' removing awkward duplicated language.

Subdivision (c)(3) removed a redundant constitutional compliance statement referencing Article XIII D, Section 6(b), simplifying the provision to just require that each tier's rate not exceed the proportional cost of service allocated to parcels in that tier.

Subsection (a) now allows 'historic, existing, estimated, or projected data' instead of just 'existing or reasonably estimated or projected data,' broadening what evidence can substantiate a cost allocation.

New subsection (c)(2) states an agency is not required to have a cost-based or any other justification for establishing a tier breakpoint, and defines 'tier breakpoint' as the point where a customer leaves one tier and enters another.

Added 'meter size' as an example characteristic for defining parcel or customer classes in water/sewer tiered fees.

Subsection (c)(1) was narrowed from applying to any water service fee or charge to specifically apply only when imposing a 'tiered rate' for water service.

New item (D) in subsection (c)(1) allows agencies to include costs incurred as a result of water use at various tiers, costs to implement water conservation or demand management measures, and incremental costs as defined in the Water Code when allocating tier costs.

The standard for tier rates changed from 'reasonably reflects the cost of providing service for that tier' to 'does not exceed the proportional cost of service reasonably allocated to parcels subject to that tier,' shifting from a reasonableness standard to a cap-based standard.