Santa Margarita Water District

Santa Margarita Water District provides water, sewer, recycled water and runoff services to approximately 155,000 residents and businesses within its service district located in south Orange County.

The District is governed by a five member publicly elected Board of Directors which is responsible for the District’s strategies and policies. The Board of Directors currently receives a per diem stipend of $210 per meeting per month, not to exceed 10 meetings per month. The Board of Directors receives no medical insurance, retirement benefits or loans from the District.

SMWD’s General Manager is the chief executive for the District and is responsible for the daily operation of the organization. These responsibilities include the management of 123 employees and an annual operating and capital budget of $55.9 million.

The General Manager’s employment agreement is reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors. John Schatz was appointed by the Board as General Manager in January 1994. Currently, Mr. Schatz receives an annual compensation of $240,394 as General Manager. In addition, the Board of Directors appointed Mr. Schatz as General Counsel to the District, therefore eliminating the need to hire an outside law firm for ongoing general counsel services. Currently, Mr. Schatz receives an annual compensation of $98,201 as General Counsel. This dual role has greatly reduced the District’s annual expense for outside general counsel services. Prior to 1994, the District allocated an average of $600,000 a year for outside general counsel services.

SMWD has adopted and follows a Code of Conduct and Expense Reimbursement Policy and fully complies with the specific requirements of the Political Reform Act (financial interests and decision making), Government Code Section 1090 (contracts), the Ralph M. Brown Act (open meetings) and AB 1234 (compensation, expense reimbursement and ethics training). These policy and statutory requirements ensure transparency and ethical behavior by water district officials and staff.

The District is committed to providing the highest value to our customers at the lowest possible price. The District continues its long-standing tradition of operational efficiency and prides itself on maintaining one of the lowest “employee to connection” ratios. Despite the fact that SMWD’s service connections have doubled since 1994, the District’s staff has decreased from 165 employees in 1994 to just 123 employees today. If you have any questions about SMWD, our compensation or fiscal practices, please let us know.