Santa Rosa Council votes Oct. 27 on $49 million in sewer bonds for the Laguna plant's electrical upgrade

By The Downspout · Posted Oct 24, 2026 · 4 min read

On October 27, 2026, the Santa Rosa City Council votes on selling about $49.2 million in sewer bonds, which are loans the city repays over time. About $35 million is for electrical upgrades at the Laguna Treatment Plant, Santa Rosa's sewage treatment plant. The sale, plus about $9.1 million of reserve money and cash, also pays off and sets aside money for older sewer bonds. The agenda does not say whether sewer rates change.

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Where it is and what it does

The Laguna Treatment Plant is Santa Rosa's sewage treatment plant. A city meeting calendar lists it at 4300 Llano Road. See it on a map: Laguna Treatment Plant, 4300 Llano Road.

It cleans sewage from homes and businesses. The city says it serves about 230,000 people in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol and the South Park Sanitation District.

The plant recycles about 7 billion gallons of wastewater a year. In dry to normal years, nearly all of the treated water is reused. It goes to irrigation for farms, vineyards, parks and golf courses, and to a pipeline to geothermal steam fields. Our page on where wastewater goes in Sonoma County explains the wider picture.

The plant also captures gas from its digesters and turns it into electricity on site. The city says that covers about one-third of the plant's electrical demand.

What happened

On October 27, 2026, the Santa Rosa City Council will vote on selling sewer revenue bonds, called Series 2026A. A bond is a loan the city repays over time. The vote is at the 4 p.m. council meeting, as item 15.1 on the agenda. This is a proposal. The council has not decided.

The city estimates the sale at about $49.2 million. The council would set a cap of $55 million.

Here is what the money is for.

Electrical upgrades: about $35 million for the Laguna Treatment Plant Electrical Infrastructure Improvement Project.
Paying off older bonds: about $18.9 million to pay off two older sewer bond series, from 2014 and 2016. Paying off old bonds with money from new ones is called refunding.
Part of another old series: about $6.7 million set aside to cover part of the 2002 sewer bonds. That is called defeasance.

The rest covers fees and interest. The city also plans to use about $7.1 million released from a reserve fund, which is money held back to secure older bonds, plus $2.0 million in other cash.

The city says much of the plant's electrical equipment is at the end of its useful life. Replacement parts are no longer made or are hard to get. The project would replace and add power equipment, including transformers, and move overhead 15,000-volt power lines underground. It would also add underground conduits for future plant expansion. The city says this should make the electric system more reliable and give it backup.

The bonds would be repaid only from the sewer system's own revenues. They would not be repaid from the city's General Fund.

The city estimates an overall borrowing cost of 4.01 percent a year. The council's approval would cap the effective rate at 4.5 percent. The last payment is expected on September 1, 2036.

Refunding the 2014 and 2016 bonds and setting aside money for part of the 2002 bonds is expected to save about $480,000, counted as present value. That means the savings valued in current dollars. The city's own policy sets a minimum savings for a refunding, and this falls short. So the council is also asked to waive that rule. Staff give these reasons: it releases reserve funds, it covers part of the 2002 bonds, and it keeps room to structure future debt.

Here are the debt numbers, as staff report them.

Staff say the plan saves about $11 million in debt payments.
The city's highest yearly payment on all sewer bonds is now about $26.9 million.
Staff project about $26.1 million for the budget years ending June 2028 through June 2030.
Starting in the budget year ending June 2031, staff project yearly payments about $1.7 million higher than they would be without this deal.
Total sewer bonds owed would go from about $183 million to about $205 million. The $205 million figure is preliminary.

What it means for you

Short answer: the agenda and staff report do not say whether sewer rates change.

If you want to know how this affects your bill, Santa Rosa Water lists 707-543-3350 on its water reuse page.
Staff say the plan limits the effect on ratepayers and regional partners. When the city set rates in 2024, its rate study assumed $35 million borrowed over 30 years at 5.5 percent. This plan uses about 10 years and a lower estimated rate.
To speak, go to the meeting at City Hall, 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, or join on Zoom. You can also email cc-comment@srcity.org by 5 p.m. on Monday, October 26. Put the agenda item number, 15.1, in the subject line. Anyone can see emails sent to the council, because they are public records.

The city says every gallon of recycled water reused saves a gallon of drinking water. It also says reuse leaves more water in rivers, lakes and streams for fish and wildlife.

What happens next

If the council approves, the city's preliminary schedule is to set the final price and terms the week of November 4. The deal is planned to close on November 19. That is when the older 2014 and 2016 bonds would be paid off. The schedule could change. The staff report says this vote does not approve the electrical project's design or award a construction contract.

Where this came from

The City of Santa Rosa's October 27, 2026 City Council agenda, the staff report and presentation for item 15.1, the city's Laguna Treatment Plant pages, and its meeting calendar for the plant's address. All are listed below.

Sources

Checked 2026-10-24. Rules and programs change. If something here is out of date, the source above wins. Spot an error? See our corrections policy.