Stop the Glendale Water Rate Hike

By now, many residents in Glendale know that the Glendale City Council is moving to increase our water rates from 50%-145% starting January 2027!! What they may not know is that under California law, we have the constitutional right to BLOCK this hike. But we can only do it if we act TOGETHER right now.

If more than 50% of Glendale property owners and utility-paying tenants submit a valid, written protest, the City Council is LEGALLY BARRED from raising our rates under something called Proposition 218. That means we need around 18,000 valid petitions. Our current goal is 25,000.

At a time when residents are already struggling with sky-high electric bills, we have to say enough is enough. We need to stop the water increase now, demand that the Glendale City Council address our high electric bills, and only then revisit our water issues down the road.

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What’s Happening & Key Dates

GWP is proposing a 53% average rate increase starting Jan 1, 2027, followed by 11%, 10%, 10%, and 7% increases over the next four years. That’s about $37 a month more for the average home. Per the city’s own rate chart, individual increases vary by meter size and could range from roughly 50% to 145%.
Community meetings: Oct 7 (Adult Recreation Center), Oct 15 (Sparr Heights Community Center), Oct 17 (Brand Park Library), Oct 24 (virtual via Zoom). Public hearing & protest deadline: Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 6:00 PM, Glendale City Council Chambers.
Prop 218 (1996) requires 45 days’ notice before a rate hike and lets ratepayers stop it. If written protests are submitted by a majority of affected parcels before or at the Nov 3 hearing, the increase cannot move forward. You can submit one protest per parcel or account. Just include your name, service address or APN, and signature. We’re helping residents get protest forms and find their APN.

How to Stop this Increase in 3 Easy Steps

1. Download & Print Your Protest Forms

Click the buttons below to download the correct form.

Download Form – Property Owners

Download Form – Tenants/Lessees

2. Fill It Out & Sign It by Hand

The City of Glendale will not accept digital signatures, emails, online petitions or public

comments at council meetings as a valid protest, countable towards halting the rate increase.

Property Owners: Don't know your Assessor's Parcel Number (APN)? Look it up instantly on the LA County Assessor Portal.

3. Drop It Off at a Secure Community Location

While protest forms can be mailed or dropped off at the City Clerk's office at City Hall (NOT the GWP) with a deadline of Nov. 3, 2026, we strongly recommend 1) that you do not risk your form getting lost in the mail and 2) you drop your forms at one of our volunteer drop-off locations. We will scan your form to create an independent backup record before hand-delivering it to the City Clerk.

Why dropping off with us matters: Before the public hearing on November 3rd, our legal volunteers will scan every single collected form. If the City Clerk claims we fell short of the 18,000 threshold, we will use our independent digital archive to audit their count and challenge any unfair rejections.

Deadline for Community Drop-Offs: Please bring your forms to one of our drop-off locations by Nov 1, 2026, so we have enough time to organize and scan them before the final City Council hearing on Tuesday, Nov 3, 2026.

If you are bringing your forms directly to the City Clerk's office (forms do not go to the GWP) the FINAL deadline is Nov. 3, 2026.

Community Drop-Off Locations

Bring your signed physical forms to these secure locations by November 1, 2026:

Weekdays

Address: 651 W. Harvard st.

‍ ‍ Glendale, Ca 91204

Hours: Monday – Friday,

9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Ask for Gevorg

Weekends

Address: 416 E. Broadway

‍ ‍ Glendale, Ca 91205

For after hours and weekends please call Gevorg (820-888-8877) and confirm time and location.

More drop off locations will be announced soon.

Glendale water customers already pay some of the highest rates in the region, and this proposed increase would raise bills by 50% to 145%, depending on your elevation zone.

Electricity, 2026 avg. residential rate:

Glendale (GWP) ~34¢/kWh,
Los Angeles (LADWP) ~24 to 28¢/kWh,
Pasadena (PWP) ~20 to 25¢/kWh,
Burbank (BWP) ~19 to 21¢/kWh.

Sales tax, 2026:

Glendale ~10.5%, LA County ~9.75%, City of LA ~9.5%, Sacramento ~8.75%, San Francisco ~8.62%, San Diego ~7.75%.

Median home value, 2026:

Glendale ~ $ 1,201,880, Pasadena ~ $ 1,209,228, Burbank ~ $ 1,200,885, LA County ~ $ 888,000, Los Angeles ~ $873,000 to $949,000,

There are 34,494 water accounts in Glendale. Under Prop 218, this rate increase can be stopped if written protests are submitted by 50% of affected accounts. That’s 17,247 signatures. Every signed protest form brings us closer.