Tiered fees take effect July 1 in
By
Record
Staff Writer
SAN ANDREAS -
Calaveras County Water District customers whose homes are surrounded by acres
of irrigated landscaping may want to consider a horticultural makeover.
The district's
directors Tuesday narrowly approved a tiered rate hike that on July 1 will almost double the marginal cost of each gallon of water
for the heaviest users, those draining more than 1,500 gallons a day of
drinking water from district pipes.
The vote for
the new rate schedule, which also hikes base water rates and sewer service
rates over the next five years, was 3-2, with Directors Charles Hebrard and Jeff Davidson opposed.
Calaveras rate hikes
Beginning July 1, the Calaveras County Water District will charge
higher rates for water and sewer service. The new rates also eliminate a
surcharge for sewer service that now exists in the La Contenta area near Valley
Springs. The district has about 12,500 water customers and 4,500 sewer
customers. Some customers use both services.
Water
Existing water rate: base rate of $22 per month plus 0.114 cent
per gallon for usage beyond 75 gallons per day. Examples: The owner of an
average home that uses 750 gallons per day over a month would pay $45 a month.
A heavy irrigator using 1,700 gallons a day over a month would pay $78.
The base monthly water rate will rise by $3.50 each July 1 for the
next five years.
New rate once the full increase is phased in on
Sewer
Existing sewer rate for a single family home: $45 a month.
The monthly sewer rate will rise by $4.50 each July 1 for the next
five years.
New rate once the full increase is phased in on July 1, 2011:
$67.60.
Hebrard
said he objected to the rate hike because he didn't know exactly what the extra
dollars would be spent on. Davidson said he objected to charging more per
gallon for customers who use more water than the maximum amount for which the
system was designed.
"It's
penalizing," Davidson said. "I don't think we've made any real effort
to educate people about water conservation," he said.
The issue is
all too real for the district. Last summer in Rancho Calaveras, system pipes
went dry for several days during a heat wave because homes were using more than
1,700 gallons per day each on average, far beyond the system's designed maximum
capacity of 1,500 gallons per home per day. District officials said the crisis
hit because residents in homes on large lots, many as much as 3 to 5 acres, using district water to irrigate landscaping.
Members of the
board majority said they felt they had to take responsibility both for bringing
district revenue in line with costs and for giving incentives for users not to
overtax facilities that were designed to serve homes, rather than irrigated
parks.
"The
larger users, that is discretionary," said Director Ed Rich. "If you
want to feed deer, you can feed deer," he said, referring to the likely
fate of much irrigated landscaping in
District
General Manager David Andres said staffers calculated the rate hikes based on projections
for the actual cost to run the district's water and sewer systems over the next
five years. He said state law bars the district from charging any more than the
actual cost.
In recent
years, the district has fallen behind on maintenance and upgrades to meet
regulatory standards in part because of its financial problems, district
officials have said.
"We have
historically not addressed the need for rate increases when they were obviously
needed," Director Bob Dean said.
Terms for Hebrard and Davidson expire at the end of this year, and
both will have to stand for re-election this summer if they wish to remain on
the board.
The three
board members whose terms expire in 2009 - Dean,
Regardless of
income level, ratepayers accustomed to irrigating landscaping around their
homes objected to the rate hikes during public hearings held around the
district over several months. A half-dozen district ratepayers testified at
Wednesday's hearing, with most opposing the hikes.
"This
tiered system's going to drive our (monthly) water bills to $700," said
Scott Ennis of Valley Springs, who says he had been paying about $350 a month
to irrigate around his home in the summer.
Colleen Platt
of Valley Springs, in contrast, said she supports the tiered rate structure
even though she too is a heavy user of district water to keep up her
landscaping. "You can't make everybody happy all the time," Platt
said.
Clyde Clapp,
owner of several rental units in the Valley Springs area, said he's encouraging
his fixed-income and working-class tenants to consider moving out of
Although the
minimum monthly water rate will rise over the next five years to $39.50 a
month, versus the present $22 a month, the new structure also increases the
amount of water included in that base rate to an average of 125 gallons a day,
rather than the present 75 gallons a day.
District
officials note that state law bars them from subsidizing rates for any class of
customers. The district is, however, beginning talks with
Contact
reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 754-9534 or dnichols@recordnet.com.