More than 90,000 people get their water each day from the City of Hillsboro Water Department.

Delivering that high quality, safe, reliable drinking water in the most economical and efficient means possible — now and in the future — is our Water Department’s mission.

Something unique you may not know… Hillsboro’s water utility is not governed by the City Council. It’s overseen by appointed Hillsboro community members who form the Hillsboro Utilities Commission and focus solely on water issues.

Since its creation in 1940, the Utilities Commission has set system development charges (SDCs) on new development, as well as water rates for new and existing customers. These are the sole funding sources for Hillsboro’s water system.

Hillsboro’s water rates are influenced by three significant factors:

• Protecting public health: Ensuring the water delivered to homes and businesses meets strict state and federal standards requires staffing, resources, time, and supplies to monitor, test, treat, and protect our drinking water.
  
  
• Maintaining essential water infrastructure: To deliver safe, reliable drinking water to everyone, Hillsboro Water strategically upgrades, repairs, and replaces aging parts of the system.
  
  
• Our Future Water Supply: Bringing an additional water supply source and new water treatment plant to serve Hillsboro is a billion-dollar partnership project. It will provide water for future generations — and a more resilient supply for the current residents to help us in the event of a large earthquake or natural disaster.

All water customers pay water rates, including residents, businesses, and industry. Those rates consist of two charges on the utility bill.

• A Fixed Base Charge funds general system maintenance, debt service, and service costs. This fee is based on the size of each customer’s water meter and does not change month to month.
  
  
• A Water Usage Charge is based on each customer’s water usage registered by the water meter. The usage fee can change from bill to bill and adjusts up or down depending on the water used during that billing period.

Hillsboro customers pay some of the lowest water rates in the region. You can see how our community compares to other nearby water providers — and learn more about Hillsboro’s water rates and the rate-setting process — at Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/WaterRates, or call 503-615-6702.

The City of Hillsboro is committed to helping customers in need. As of July 1, 2024, no qualifying customer has been turned away. If you’re having trouble paying your utility bill, you can visit Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/UtilityAssistance or call 503-681-6163 to see if you qualify for a flexible payment plan or bill relief options.

Read more Finance 101 articles

• Finance 101: Revenues & Services in Hillsboro

• Finance 101: Hillsboro's General Fund

• Finance 101: Transportation Utility Fee (TUF)

• Finance 101: Surface Water Management (SWM)

• Finance 101: Transient Lodging Tax (TLT)

• Finance 101: Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

• Finance 101: Clean Water Services

• Finance 101: Water Rates

• Finance 101: System Development Charges (SDCs)