The 7,900 customers of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District face bigger water bills, totaling 61.5 percent over five years for a typical family — 29 percent in the first year, beginning Nov. 1.
The only thing that could block the increase would be protest letters from more than half of all water district customers received before Thursday, Sept. 21.
The water rate increases set by the district’s Board of Directors on July 13 will, if given final approval on Sept. 21, lock in rates through 2022, when the monthly water bill for a typical family, using 4 units of water monthly, would be $85.98.
The board has scheduled three special public information sessions before the Sept. 21 vote, when directors will know the number of protest letters, and when they have only the options of approving or rejecting the rates they endorsed last week. Any changes in the rates will require another 45-day public comment period.
The sessions are Thursday, Aug. 3, at noon, at The Satellite Center, 6265 Highway 9, Felton; Thursday, Aug. 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the water district board room, 13057 Highway 9, Boulder Creek; Thursday, Sept. 7, at noon, at the Boulder Creek Fire Station, 13230 Central Ave., Boulder Creek. The final public hearing before the board vote will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, tentatively scheduled at the Highlands Park Senior Center, 8500 Highway 9, Ben Lomond.
The new SLV water rates mark a significant departure from the way the district determines rates, to encourage conservation.
Previously 50 percent of district fee revenue came from a fixed service charge, with the other 50 percent water use, using four tiers of rates that charged more per 100 cubic feet (a “unit”) the more water was consumed.
The new rates shift that formula so 30 percent comes from a fixed service charge, and 70 percent from water use, with just one flat rate per unit.
This will mean a lower fixed service charge, dropping from $34 to $28.77 the first year; and a higher per unit rate of $10.12, compared to $3.81 to $6.61 per unit currently.
The new rates would go into effect in the November bills, which could be for water consumed in mid-October.
The new rate eliminates the $1 per unit drought surcharge.
It also provides for automatic rate increases of from $1.13 to $2.53 per unit if actual district-wide water consumption in any month drops 10, 15, or 20 percent below a three-year average set each June .
The SLV directors don’t have the authority to approve those automatic “revenue stabilization rates,” but are given the option of rescinding them.
