Benicàssim approves the water ordinance with a 4.35% increase

The Benicàssim City Council has definitively approved the modification of the Ordinance regulating the non-tax public heritage payment for the municipal drinking water supply service, after the public information period passed without claims or suggestions. The agreement, initially adopted by the Plenary in an ordinary session on July 24, 2026, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Castellón no. 112, of September 17, 2026, with the reference 04071-2026-U, and bears the signature of the mayor Susana Marqués Escoín.

The modification is partial, technical, and regulated: on one hand, it updates the Tariff Annex by applying the revision coefficient Kt=1.0435, equivalent to an increase of 4.35%, and on the other, it incorporates a procedure to articulate future annual updates. The file began with the Order of June 26, 2026 and the Order of July 14, 2026, and has favorable reports from the Municipal Treasurer (June 26, 2026) and the General Secretary (July 14, 2026), in addition to the proposal from the Department dated July 14, 2026. The Municipal Information Commission for Political, Economic, Administrative Management and Special Accounts proposed the agreement to the Plenary by a majority of affirmative votes.

The service is municipally owned and is provided under an indirect management regime by the U.T.E. AGUAS DE BENICASIM, composed of Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola Castellonense, S.A. and Fomento Benicàssim Aguas Potables, S.A.U. (CIF U19872910), the awardee of the concession contract by plenary agreement on August 30, 2024. The original ordinance was initially approved on December 20, 2024, and published in the BOP no. 37 of March 27, 2025, with a correction of a material error agreed upon on April 25, 2025, and published in the BOP no. 54 of May 6, 2025.

Annual review by Mayoral decree

The new Article 7 establishes that tariffs will be reviewed annually in accordance with clause 24 of the Specific Administrative Clauses Document (PCAP) and the concession contract itself, applying the polynomial formula provided to determine the Kt coefficient. The update will be carried out via Decree of the Mayoralty-Presidency, following a formal request from the concessionaire company, a mandatory and favorable report from the municipal technical body responsible for monitoring the concession, and a mandatory and favorable report from the Price Commission of the Generalitat Valenciana, in accordance with Decree 68/2013, of June 7, of the Consell.

The decree must detail the applied indices, the resulting coefficient, and the updated amount of each tariff concept, and shall be published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of Castellón and on the municipal electronic office, taking effect from the day following its publication. The annual update shall not require the processing of a plenary modification file for the ordinance, although the Mayor’s Office must report to the Plenary in the first ordinary session it holds. The Sole Additional Provision considers the Tariff Annex to be automatically updated to the values of said decree.

The new water tariffs

• Service fee: €14.98/quarter for 10 and 13 mm calibers; €22.49 for 15 mm; €37.47 for 20 mm; €52.45 for 25 mm; €74.92 for 30 mm; €149.85 for 40 mm; €224.77 for 50 mm; €299.69 for 65 mm; €374.60 for 80 mm; €524.46 for 100 mm; and €22.49 for flow rates of 15 and 25 m³/month.
• Consumption fee: €0.1896/m³ up to 45 m³ per quarter; €0.3791 between 45 and 75 m³; and €0.8215 above 75 m³.
• Meter maintenance: from €3.15/quarter (10 and 13 mm calibers) up to €145.62/quarter (100 mm).
• New connections: from €201.63 (15 mm) to €4,017.46 (100 mm), plus €30.17 for connection rights for works and €142.41 as a contracting fee.

The applicable current Value Added Tax (VAT) rate shall be applied to the fee resulting from these tariffs.

Processing, entry into force, and appeals

In compliance with Article 56.1 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the Bases of the Local Regime, the State Administration and the Generalitat Valenciana were notified via communications received by both administrations on July 31, 2026, without either submitting a request for further information or any other requirement. As no claims or suggestions were presented, the agreement is understood to be definitively adopted in accordance with Article 49 of the same law.

The ordinance shall enter into force once the period provided for in Article 70.2 in relation to Article 65.2 of Law 7/1985 has elapsed, and shall remain in force until it is modified or repealed. Contentious-administrative appeals may be filed against the agreements for the approval and modification of tax ordinances before the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, within a filing period of two months starting from the day following the publication of the full text in the Official Gazette of the Province.

The regulation affects all users and bills for the municipality’s domestic water supply, who will see a 4.35% increase reflected in the service fee, the consumption fee, meter maintenance, and new connections. Furthermore, the new annual review mechanism by decree streamlines future increases by decoupling them from the plenary process, meaning the water bill is subject to automatic updates each fiscal year.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Castellón, no. 112, September 17, 2026, Local Administration (official reference: 04071-2026-U).