San Diego Water Rates Settlement: Only About 62,654 of 436,069 Customers Are Owed a Refund — and the Opt-Out and Objection Deadline Is November 12, 2026, Not September 28

As of October 18, 2026, the settlement administrator’s site lists three dates: “OPT OUT BY NOVEMBER 12, 2026,” “OBJECT BY NOVEMBER 12, 2026,” and a Final Fairness Approval Hearing on “12/11/2026 at 9:00 a.m. PT.” The court-approved long-form notice says the same: “Your deadline to object or opt out: November 12, 2026.” Our September 1 article gave September 28. That date came from the court’s schedule, which set the response deadline at “59 calendar days after Order on Preliminary Approval (45 calendar days after the date notice is sent).” The motion was noticed for a July 31, 2026 hearing before Judge Michael T. Smyth, and 59 days after that is September 28. The order posted on the settlement site is a proposed order, and no posted document gives the date the court actually entered it. The official notice now uses November 12, which is 45 days after September 28 by our count. The notice is what governs, so November 12, 2026 is the date that matters.

The bigger news is in plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval. The class covers every single-family residential customer of the City of San Diego who received water service between August 14, 2014 and December 1, 2023, approximately 436,069 current and former customers. But the motion says only “the approximately 62,654 class members entitled to refunds” under the court-approved formula will be paid. That is about 14.4 percent, or roughly 1 in 7. The notice says it plainly: “Not all customers were overcharged.” Most people who get the email or postcard are class members, are bound by the settlement and get no check. The notice’s answer is that “All class members received the benefit of the City of San Diego changing the water rates.”

Who. Money goes only to accounts that came out overcharged in the refund calculation the trial court adopted and the Court of Appeal affirmed. That calculation was done by the City’s own expert, Mark Hildebrand, and updated through the end of the class period. Each account’s overcharge is the difference between what it paid and what it would have paid under lawful rates. Under the tiered structure, the higher prices fell on water used above the lower tiers. The trial court also deducted “undercharges” in calculating the refund amount, a deduction the plaintiffs challenged on appeal. That is our best reading of why most accounts come out at zero; the posted papers do not break the 62,654 down by usage. The settlement agreement lets plaintiffs propose a “floor” refund amount so very small payments can be skipped. The posted papers do not set one.

How much. No official estimate exists. The motion says the notice tells class members “a precise estimate of the amount they can expect to recover is not yet possible.” The fund math is public. Start with $40,000,000. If the court grants every request at its maximum, take out attorneys’ fees of up to $13,333,333.33 (one third), expenses of up to $500,000, administration expected to be no more than $199,000, and two $7,500 service awards. That leaves about $25.95 million before taxes. Divided across 62,654 refund accounts, that is an average of about $414, by our arithmetic. Each payment is pro rata to the account’s calculated overcharge, so a heavy summer irrigator could get far more and a moderate user far less. Measured against the $79,541,880 judgment, the motion calls the settlement “approximately 50%” of the class’s potential recovery. Our earlier figure of about $62 per household divided the fund across all 436,069 accounts, and it was wrong for the same reason.

When. Not in 2026. The City wires $4,000,000 into escrow within 14 days of preliminary approval and the remaining $36,000,000 within 14 days after the court enters the final approval order. The administrator then “within 30 days of the Date of Finality, will begin” paying. The Date of Finality is one business day after the time to appeal the approval runs out, or after any appeal ends. If the court approves the deal on December 11 and nobody appeals, payments start in 2027. An appeal would push them back by months or years. Payment can be a paper check or an electronic method. The administrator’s declaration lists “direct deposit, PayPal or Zelle” as examples. Money left over after distribution goes to the Sierra Club, California Water Committee, including the San Diego chapter. Nothing reverts to the City.

To stay in and be paid if you qualify: nothing. The site says that if you were overcharged, “you do not need to submit anything further at this time to receive a refund.” Two optional steps are worth the minute. On the site you can enter the customer ID from your notice to see “whether you are estimated to receive a refund,” and you can confirm your contact details and choose how to be paid. If you have moved since you had the account, update your address there or through CPT Group at 1-888-903-0334, SDWaterSettlement@cptgroup.com, or PO Box 19504, Irvine, CA 92623.

To opt out and keep the right to sue the City yourself, use the court’s opt-out form. By mail, it “must be postmarked no later than November 12, 2026.” The form also allows email, received by the same date. However, section 6.4 of the settlement agreement says “No Settlement Class Member can exclude themself by telephone or by email.” Until that conflict is cleared up, mail the form, and keep proof of mailing. Opting out means no share of the $40 million. For the six in seven class members who will get nothing anyway, it costs nothing and keeps their individual claim alive, though we know of no separate case to join.

To object, for example to the one-third fee or the discount from the judgment, your letter must be received by November 12, 2026. Send it to the court or file it on the case docket, not just mail it by then. It must include the case name and number (No. 37-2015-00023413), your full name, the service address, the property owner if that is not you, your phone and email, your reasons, any lawyer helping you, whether you plan to appear, and your handwritten or electronically imaged signature. The court addresses are San Diego Superior Court, Hall of Justice, Fourth Floor, 330 W Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101, and the notice also lists the administrator’s PO box. Objecting does not cost you a payment: “You can object to the settlement AND remain a class member to receive payment.” The hearing is at 9:00 a.m. on December 11, 2026 in Department C-67, and the preliminary approval order says it will also be available on Microsoft Teams. “The date of the hearing may change without further notice to members of the class.” Check the site before you go.

Probably, if it matches the court-approved text. The administrator’s declaration says CPT Group emails every class member with a valid email address in the City’s records and sends a postcard to those without one. It also ran a print notice in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The approved email says “You are not being sued. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer,” and “This Email Notice was authorized by the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego.” It points to SDWaterSettlement.com and 1-888-903-0334 and invites you to enter your customer ID to check for a refund.

The real notice never asks you to pay anything, and there is no claim form to buy or file. The opt-out form even says “This is not a claim form.” The only place to enter a payment choice is the settlement site itself. Type SDWaterSettlement.com into your browser rather than following a link, and call the number above if anything looks off. Do not call the court. The notice asks class members to “please do not reach out to the Court with questions about the settlement.” The full case file is on the court’s eCourt public portal under case number 37-2015-00023413.

The case was filed on July 14, 2015. The class was certified on August 16, 2019, the trial court ruled on liability on September 13, 2021, and it entered judgment for the class on March 30, 2022. The City adopted new single-family rates on December 1, 2023, which is why the class period ends there. The Court of Appeal affirmed on July 30, 2025, and the California Supreme Court denied review on October 29, 2025. The problem for the class was a new state law, Government Code section 53758.5, added by Senate Bill 1072 and effective January 1, 2025. It lets an agency satisfy a Proposition 218 refund award with credits against future rate increases instead of cash. The appellate court told the trial court to apply it, and the notice says “The Court has not yet decided how” it applies. Rather than litigate that, the parties settled. They told the court of a settlement in principle on April 28, 2026, in a mediator’s proposal from retired Judge Herbert B. Hoffman. Our September article dated this to November 3, 2025; the motion’s date is the one on the record.

How much will San Diego water rates increase in 2026? The settlement does not change your current bill. The City’s rate page says “On Jan. 1, 2026, water rates will increase by 14.7%,” with wastewater rates up 6%, both approved by the City Council on Oct. 28, 2025. That is the answer to how much water bills increase in 2026 for City of San Diego customers; other water agencies in the county set their own rates. KPBS reports a second increase of 14.5% approved for 2027. Because of the Patz ruling, the City has also proposed scrapping single-family tiers on Jan. 1, 2027. Today the tiers are $9.75, $10.88 and $13.62 per hundred cubic feet. The proposal is one rate of $11.09, about 748 gallons. By the City’s estimates as reported by KPBS, bills in the lowest-use tier would rise about 7.1% and average-use bills about 5.9%, while the heaviest users would save around 5.9%. The Council held its hearing on Oct. 6, 2026 and postponed the vote to Oct. 27.

What settlements are paying out right now? Not this one. Its refunds wait for final approval. For settlements already paying or still taking claims, see our open class action settlements list.