City of Port Lavaca

09/12/2026

You've probably seen all of that large rock stockpiled at City Harbor for a few weeks. This is bedding stone for the construction of the rock breakwater that will extend from the Nautical Landings channel to the southern tip of Fisher Harbor. Maverick Constructors have begun placing this bedding stone in the bay. One more step in the progress of this exciting shoreline protection project being funded with a CDBG-Mitigation Coastal Resiliency Grant from the GLO.

09/12/2026

💧Why Are Water Rates Increasing?

There have been many questions regarding the City's need to increase water rates. Please understand, that this decision was not made lightly — it followed a comprehensive water rate study conducted by consultant NewGen Solutions. The bottom line is that the increase is necessary to generate adequate revenue to properly operate, maintain and improve the City's water system. This is something that water systems all across the United States are facing - not just Port Lavaca.

In our case, much of the cost of delivering water to our customers goes toward purchasing the raw water — the untreated water the City buys from GBRA before it goes through treatment — and having it processed at the water treatment plant by Undine, LLC. The City recognizes that the cost of everything is rising, and the cost to provide our customers with water from their tap is no exception.

For comparison: in FY 2021–2022, the City paid $1.26 million just in water treatment costs. In FY 2026–2027, that cost is projected to reach $2.71 million — that's a 115% increase over five years. That increased cost must be paid using increased water rates - not tax dollars. The Public Utility Fund is an Enterprise Fund that must be self supporting. As such, Tax dollars (General Fund Dollars) do not go to pay expenses for our water or sewer systems - water and sewer rates do.

We hope this additional information is helpful. For more information about our new Meter size water rate system, please see our posts from August 22 and September 9.

09/08/2026

💧 PORT LAVACA IS ADOPTING A METER-SIZE-BASED WATER RATE STRUCTURE

Why the change? To make water rates fairer and more closely connected to the cost of providing reliable water service.

Every customer’s water charge has two parts:

A base charge that helps keep the water system ready to serve the property; and
A usage charge based on the amount of water actually used.

WHY DOES METER SIZE MATTER?

A larger meter allows a customer to draw considerably more water at one time. Even if that capacity is not used every day, the City must maintain enough treatment, pumping, storage and distribution capacity to provide it whenever needed.

Under the new structure, base charges are determined by meter size using nationally recognized American Water Works Association capacity multipliers. To reduce the impact on customers with larger meters, the City is using 50% of the recommended AWWA multipliers.

WHAT ELSE IS CHANGING?

💧 The first 2,000 gallons will no longer be included in the base charge. Customers will pay for the water they actually use, beginning with the first gallon.

🏘️ Multi-family is a new customer classification for properties where one meter serves more than one residential unit, such as a fourplex with a shared meter.

🏢 Commercial and multi-family customers have the same meter-size-based base charges, but different water-usage rates:

• Commercial: $7.42 per 1,000 gallons
• Multi-family: $10.08 per 1,000 gallons

The sewer rate structure is not changing.

The City’s water utility must be financially self-supporting. Water revenues fund daily operations, outstanding debt, repairs, system improvements and the required minimum fund balance.

A fair and financially sound rate structure will help keep Port Lavaca’s water system reliable today and for years to come. Please see the graphic for a comparison of the old and new water rates.

09/05/2026

An aerial view of the progress on the reef breakwater and marsh creation between the Veteran's Memorial and Scully's this morning.

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

🚨 WARRANT ROUND-UP IS COMING 🚨

The Port Lavaca Municipal Court Warrant Round-Up begins September 30, 2026.

If you have an outstanding warrant, now is the time to take care of it.

📞 Contact Port Lavaca Municipal Court
361-552-9793 ext. 226 or 268

09/01/2026

CITY MANAGER’S SNAPSHOT | AUGUST 2026 - a month of visible progress and important planning

From the start of construction improvements in the Western Heights Subdivision to continued progress on the Living Shoreline Protection Project, August was a month of visible progress and important planning for the City of Port Lavaca.

Here’s a SNAPSHOT of some of the notable projects, accomplishments, and initiatives from August as we continue working to enhance the quality of life for our residents, support economic development, and build an even stronger Port Lavaca.
As always, if you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at [email protected] or simply comment on this post. Thank you for being part of our Port Lavaca community!

• BAYFRONT BEATS SUMMER CONCERT SERIES:
Where Highway 87 Ends, the Party Begins! Our annual Bayfront Beats Summer Concert Series came to a close in August after 7 wonderful live concerts over the summer. The weather man treated us to beautiful evenings and soft bay breezes that made this year’s series particularly enjoyable. We look forward to bringing this well-received series back next year, funded with Hotel Occupancy Tax dollars.

• MASTER PARKS PLAN:
On August 26, the Parks Board completed its final review of the draft Master Parks Plan and recommended that City Council adopt the plan at its September 14 Regular Meeting.
A copy of the draft plan can be downloaded here:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:d4dd74b1-098b-40cc-ba44-5f90d1f05c3c

• 2026–27 BUDGET UPDATE:
City Council held an all-day budget workshop on August 17 and approved a proposed property tax rate of $0.8800. A public hearing on the proposed 2026–27 budget and tax rate is scheduled for September 14 at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers.
A second workshop was held on August 30 to review the final draft of the City’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan.

For comparison:
• 2026–27 No-New-Revenue Rate: $0.7968
• 2025–26 Adopted Tax Rate: $0.8000
• 2026–27 Voter-Approval Rate: $0.8957
• Proposed 2026–27 Property Tax Rate: $0.8800

At the current $0.8000 tax rate, the proposed operating budget can be balanced, but the City would fall short of its goal of maintaining 180 days of operating reserves. At the proposed $0.8800 rate, the City is projected to meet the 180-day reserve goal while also maintaining some capacity to continue investing in our community through General Fund capital improvement projects.

• WESTERN HEIGHTS STREETS, DRAINAGE & UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS:
Construction on this project, funded with 2024 Certificates of Obligation, made steady progress during August, particularly on utility and drainage infrastructure. Approximately 800 linear feet of 8-inch sanitary sewer main was installed, along with 19 sewer service connections from George Street to Highway 35. Contractor Lester Contracting, inc. also installed a 6-inch C900 water line. Water service taps within the project area have not yet been connected due to a conflict between an existing 14-inch water main and a proposed storm box. The conflict is currently being evaluated.
Work on the storm drainage system has also begun, including installation of storm sewer components and drain boxes.
Follow the project and subscribe to updates here:
https://cleargov.com/texas/calhoun/city/port-lavaca/projects/16273/western-heights-rehab-of-border-warehouse-central-and-george-st

• GLO CDBG-MIT HARBOR OF REFUGE SHORELINE RESTORATION:
Bids were opened August 20 for this project, which will restore the shoreline along the north-south channel of the Harbor of Refuge adjacent to the former landfill site. Three bids were received, and City Council will consider awarding a construction contract to the low bidder, Rexco, Inc., at the September 14 meeting.

• GLO CDBG-MIT COASTAL RESILIENCY LIVING SHORELINE:
Maverick Constructors continued setting NATRX EXOFORM™ reef structures for the reef breakwater between Veterans Memorial Park and Scully’s during August.

The contractor has also been moving material previously stockpiled at Smith Harbor into the area behind the new reef breakwater to create a new marsh area. The final approximately 1,000 cubic yards of material will come from the stockpile near the Lighthouse Beach boat ramp, which was generated during last spring’s project to excavate the boat ramp entrance channel.

Rock for the bedding layer of the project’s rock breakwater has also begun arriving, with installation of bedding stone and armor stone expected to begin soon. The rock breakwater will extend from the south side of the Nautical Landings entrance channel to the southern tip of Fisher Harbor.

When complete, the project is expected to help reduce wave impacts along the Port Lavaca waterfront during moderate tropical storms and hurricanes while creating calmer waters for kayaking, fishing, and boating during normal conditions. The reef breakwater will also provide oyster habitat and encourage development of a larger natural reef — enhancing the waterfront ecosystem while creating new opportunities for fishing.

For more information about this exciting project, visit https://cleargov.com/texas/calhoun/city/port-lavaca/projects/7897/living-shoreline-breakwater-glo-cdbg-mit-coastal-resiliency.

• COMPREHENSIVE PLAN:
The City of Port Lavaca, along with our consultant Baxter & Woodman, hosted a public Open House at the Bauer Community Center on August 18. Residents had the opportunity to review the draft Final Comprehensive Plan, ask questions, and provide feedback as we move toward completion of this important long-range planning effort.

• ZONING:
A joint workshop with City Council and the Planning Board to review the draft Zoning Ordinance has been rescheduled for late September. The date will be announced in the coming weeks.
Watch the City’s page and www.portlavaca.gov for additional information.

08/31/2026

Utility Maintenance has turned the water off in the 500 block of Wilson to repair a leak. They are unable to give an estimates as to the length of the outage, but are working as fast as they can to complete the repair. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

08/30/2026

Boy these dry conditions sure can shift water pipes and cause leaks. Utility Maintenance just notified us that they have a leak in Brookhollow Estates and they are having to close multiple valves to isolate the area to make the repair. They are unable to provide an estimated length of the outage, but they are working as fast as they can. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.