EAA’s proposed 2027 budget would raise the combined fee on authorized municipal and industrial groundwater from $97 to $104 per acre-foot, a 7.2% increase.
For Comal County, that is a $7 annual increase per authorized acre-foot—about 58 cents a month if spread evenly—paired with 2027 habitat and monitoring work at Comal Springs.
The 2026 combined fee was $97 per acre-foot; the 2027 proposal shifts the general fee from $62 to $70 while lowering the habitat-plan fee from $35 to $34.
A smaller budget with higher fees
The proposal includes $27.7 million in General Fund expenses and $13.8 million in Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan expenses.
The proposed budget projects using about $2.8 million in General Fund reserves and about $1.3 million in habitat-plan reserves. Total proposed spending is roughly $5.6 million below the authority’s $47.1 million amended 2026 budget, largely because proposed habitat-plan expenses fall from about $19.8 million to $13.8 million.