Letter: Here’s hoping Monterey doesn’t fall for Cal Am propaganda

Editor,
You may have seen a Cal Am TV ad attempting to sway Monterey citizens to vote against taking over their water system.
In this ad, a Felton resident claims our water rates are up 60 percent — but fails to mention that this is over a 6-year period.
She also states that Felton’s bond payment has increased property taxes nearly $14,000 — but doesn’t say that this is over a 30-year period at $466 annually.
In fact, when you combine current water rates with the annual bond payment, we are paying SLVWD less annually than we would be paying Cal Am now.
For water alone, an average SLVWD user pays $128 every other month for 20 units.
Assuming Cal Am rate increases of just 5.5 percent per year — and their proposed increases were much higher — that same user would be paying $218 every other month to Cal Am, which is part of the third-largest water company in the world.
On an annual basis, the average SLVWD user pays $466 for the 30-year bond, plus $770 for water, for a total of $1,236 per year.
That same user would be paying Cal Am $1,307 per year — with 5.5 percent or more annual increases — without owning the water system.
That’s a savings to the Felton users of at least $71 a year — including the bond payment.
The savings will be even greater after the bond is paid off, with the water system a legacy to our children and grandchildren.
Finally, in Felton we now have local control.
We elect SLVWD board members and hold public meetings. Our environmentally conscious board is committed to protecting our local water resources.
Felton voters were able to beat back Cal Am’s distortions, mismanagement, and price gouging, with 74.8 percent voting yes on Measure W.
We sincerely hope that Monterey can, too.
Michele Mosher, Felton