Utilities

Pay Your Water/Sewer Bill Online:

If you prefer to pay the bill in person, three drop boxes are located by City hall. One in the alley behind City hall for easy drive-by access, one in the front of city hall and another inside finance department.

Current Water and Sewer Rate Schedule
The Fort Bragg City Council approved the water rate restructure for Fiscal Year 2014-15 through Fiscal Year 2020-21. The rate structure became effective September 1, 2014.

In November 1996, California voters passed Prop 218, the "Right to Vote on Taxes Act." This constitutional amendment protects taxpayers by limiting the methods by which local governments can create or increase taxes, fees and charges without taxpayers consent. Prop 218 requires voter approval prior to imposition or increase of general taxes, assessments, and certain user fees.

Fixing Leaks Protects the Supply of Water

Even a little leak can waste a lot of water and money on your water bill. City of Fort Bragg staff will notify you of a suspected leak after your monthly meter reading if 24 hours of continuous water use has been detected or your usage is significantly higher than normal. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 10% of households have leaks wasting 90 gallons of water per day or more. Checking for and fixing leaks is often easy. We can help. Thank you for being diligent partners in protecting our water supply by finding and fixing leaks!

See video below on how to check for leaks:

Leaks can Run, but They Can't Hide. Be a Leak Detective

  

1. Check your toilets and irrigation system.
   • These are common sources of leaks. Open the tank on the back of the toilet and add several drops of food coloring, or use the FREE toilet leak detection kits available at our office during business hours. Wait 15 minutes. If colored water shows up in the toilet bowl, there is a leak. Replace or re-adjust the flapper and check for leaks again.
   • Check your irrigation system while it is both off and on. Things to look for that indicate leaks include tall vegetation or moss growing around sprinkler heads, wet spots on soil or pavement, eroding soil, dry spots in your lawn, etc.
2. Use your water meter
   • Follow our meter reading instructions to help verify if you have a leak.
3. Get help
   • Schedule a FREE water meter profile call with our finance department. We can help you confirm if you have a leak and offer advice on how to address it. You can also hire a local professional plumber if you know you have a leak, but can't find it.

Fix Your Leaks

1. Do-it-yourself
   • Depending on what kind of leak you have and how handy you are, you may be able to fix your leak on your own. You can find how-to videos and other helpful local resources at WaterSavingTips.org.
2. Leave it to the professionals
   • Hire a local plumber to fix your leak. The cost eventually pays for itself in money saved on your water bill!

Apply for an Adjustment to Your Bill

Once the leak has been fixed, the Finance department will grant an adjustment for a leak or unexplained high water use once annually. Adjustments are applied as a credit to the customer’s account and are not available as a refund unless the account is closed. If you have experienced a leak or unexplained high water use, please fill out the Leak Adjustment Form to qualify. Email the form to water@fortbragg.com.

See our Leak Adjustment Policy.

The City of Fort Bragg recently partnered with WaterSmart Software to offer our residents with a modern digital portal where you can access detailed information about your household water use.  You can reach the portal on your mobile device or web browser at Welcome to Watersmart.

To register for this free service, just enter your billing account number and email address.  You can then access all of your utility data as soon as it becomes available each billing period, see how your water use compares to similar sized homes in your neighborhood, and get access to customized recommendations on how you can save water and money.

We hope you take advantage of this exciting new service, and look forward to working closely with our residents to make our city more resilient, healthy, and happy!

No. It's free to sign up for online bill payment and to use the Xpress Bill Pay service.

However, some billing organizations charge a transaction convenience fee.

Xpress Bill Pay is the company we have partnered with to handle our online payments. You access your account from their website, xpressbillpay.com.

You can pay with a credit or debit card or transfer funds directly from your checking account (aka eCheck).

We try to make the online bill display similar to your paper statement so you’ll find it easy to read your bill on a screen.

You can view up to two years' history of your account online, so you can compare your current bill to a previous bill.

Not at all. You can pay your bill from just about anywhere via computer or mobile device. All you need is access to the internet through a web browser. You then log in to your account using your email address and password or sign in using our mobile app. No need to worry about late payments if you’re out of town when your bill is due.

After you complete the transaction, you can receive an email receipt to confirm that your payment went through.

Absolutely. All the transactions are handled on secure servers. As long as you don’t give out your password, only you will be able to access your account. Plus, your personal information or email address will not be sold or rented to third parties for marketing purposes without your permission