Santisteban approves the wastewater treatment ordinance

The City Council of Santisteban del Puerto (Jaén) has definitively approved the Regulatory Ordinance for the non-tax public heritage provision for wastewater treatment, which establishes the new rates that all subscribers in the municipality must pay for this service. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Jaén, number 179, dated September 15, 2026, page 13687, with the reference 2026/4095.

The agreement was initially approved by the Plenary in an ordinary session held on June 26, 2026. Following the publication of the agreement in the official gazette and the expiration of the public exhibition period without any allegations being presented, the ordinance has been definitively approved in accordance with Article 49 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, on the Bases of Local Regime. The announcement is signed by the mayor, Antonio Javier López Vela, dated August 31, 2026.

Nature and Obliged Parties

The ordinance is based on Articles 133.2 and 142 of the Constitution and on the new section 6 of Article 20 of the TRLHL, as worded by Law 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts. The treatment service for excreta, rainwater, blackwater, and wastewater is of mandatory reception for the affected parties.

Those obliged to pay are natural or legal persons who are occupants or users of properties within the municipal district, regardless of their title: owners, usufructuaries, residents, or tenants, including those in precarious tenure. In any case, the holder of the water supply contract and the owner of the property are considered obliged to pay. Homes or properties not intended for housing that, despite having a contracted supply, cannot technically connect to the general sewage network are exempt.

Service Rates

The amount of the provision is the result of the sum of a service fee and a consumption fee, regardless of the flow discharged:

• Fixed or service fee: €4.80/subscriber/quarter.
• Domestic use: 1st block, up to 20 m³/quarter, €0.35/m³; 2nd block, from 20 to 30 m³, €0.70/m³; 3rd block, from 30 to 45 m³, €0.95/m³; 4th block, over 45 m³, €1.25/m³.
• Industrial and commercial use: single fee of €1.00/m³.
• Other uses: single fee of €1.20/m³.
• Official centers: single fee of €1.00/m³.
• Discounted for internal leak: €0.83/m³ (for domestic use, this applies to the consumption of the 4th block).

Value Added Tax will be applied to these prices, where applicable.

Discounts and Management

A discount on rates is established for large families in their primary residence: for the variable or consumption fee, the rate of the 3rd block will be applied to the 4th block of consumption.

The payment obligation arises when the provision of the service begins, which is mandatory for all properties in the municipality with facades facing streets, squares, or public roads where sewerage exists. The fees will be settled and collected in the same periods and deadlines as the water supply bills, in a single receipt, and unpaid amounts will be enforceable through the administrative enforcement procedure (vía de apremio). The City Council will provide the service through any of the forms provided for in current legislation, including the entrustment of management to the Provincial Council of Jaén.

The ordinance shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Province and shall remain in effect until its express modification or repeal. An administrative appeal may be filed against the agreement before the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the High Court of Justice based in Jaén within two months from the publication of the announcement.

The new regulation affects all subscribers in the municipality and represents a step in the financing of the purification service, with a tariff system based on consumption blocks that penalizes high consumption and protects large families through discounts on their primary residence.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Jaén, number 179, of September 15, 2026, Local Administration, page 13687 (official reference: 2026/4095).