On Thursday, November 19, the San Lorenzo Valley Water District’s Board of Directors conducted a public hearing to give customers the opportunity to protest the proposed rate increase of $1 per every unit of 748 gallons of water consumed. If written protests against the proposed surcharge had been filed at or prior to the end of the protest hearing by a majority of the affected property owners, the District Board would not have approved the surcharge.
If 3,722 plus one customers had remitted signed protests against the increase, the surcharge would have failed. Only 132 signed protest letters had been received.
During the discussion period several people verbalized the reasons for their protests. Some people stated that the surcharge should be directed only to people who had high water consumption and should not be used to punish those who conserved water. Other people said they did not see any end provided for the surcharge and were concerned that it would become a permanent charge.
Becky Fitzgerald of Ben Lomond had asked Brian Lee, SLVWD District Manager, about the proposed surcharge in an earlier phone conversation. She said, “Mr. Lee informed me that the surcharge was temporary and there were “multiple off-ramps” for ending it, such as when the drought ended, or when the projects were completed. While pleased to learn the surcharge would be temporary, I became less pleased when considering the possible “off-ramps.” There is no firm end date.”
Fitzgerald explained, “The amount of the surcharge seems innocuous, a dollar a unit. The average use is four units, so our bills would raise $4 a month. It seems small, until one does the math. There are roughly 7500 customers who would pay $4 extra dollars a month, which works out to $30,000 a month, or $360,000 a year – certainly not chump change.”
“Personally, I say until there are some firm end-dates given, I am against the surcharge. Maybe we do need to pay more for our water, but having an open-ended blank check in the form of a surcharge that has no certain end, seems foolish. The SLVWD has not had the best reputation in the past, and the present board needs to prove itself,” said Fitzgerald.
Lee must have taken these comments to heart because part of the resolution that the Board passed included this language:
“BE IT FURTHER RSOLVED that the Drought Surcharge may be rescinded at any time by a majority of the Board finding any one of the following conditions have been met:
- District-wide consumption has returned to 2013 levels because water sources have returned to pre-drought levels.
- The District adopts new rates and charges sufficient to cover operational and capital costs.
- Capital projects listed in the November 19, 2015 Board Agenda Memo are completed or completely funded.
- Other revenue sources are identified and secured which are sufficient to close revenue gaps.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District hereby directs the District Manager to take all action necessary to implement this Resolution.”
The San Lorenzo Valley Water District Board of Directors unanimously approved a Drought Recovery and Water Capital Surcharge. The increase of $1.00 per unit of water sold goes into effect January 1, 2016. The intent of the surcharge is to collect sufficient revenue to fund capital projects that the District has committed to finishing.
