Santa Maria residents voiced their concerns Wednesday night regarding a potential increase on their utility bills over the next several years.
A public workshop was held to discuss the water and sewer rates.
The rates are being increased because of issues of aging infrastructure.
If approved, the rate increases would begin in January and would go up each year for four years.
"We've tightened our belt as far as we can. We've deferred some of these maintenance costs as far as we can and, unfortunately, we're at the situation we're coming back to the rate payers and asked them to pay more," Director of Utilities Shad Springer said.
Water and sewer rates have not increased in Santa Maria since 2017.
