Water rates, and Capistrano's increases, have been a sore subject around town the last year or so. (Without getting into the practicality of the raises, let's note previous City Councils refused to raise water and sewer rates for more than 20 years.)
But it's not just a Capistrano issue. The city of Placentia has seen crowded City Council chambers recently over a proposed increase there, too. Placentia has a contract -- open ended, somehow -- with Golden State Water Co.
From a story in OC Register:
PLACENTIA – Residents concerned about another double-digit increase in their water bills filled the Council Chambers on Monday night, some of them asking the City Council to look into dumping the publicly-traded Golden State Water Co., which has provided the city water for decades.
The City Council called the meeting with representatives of Golden State Water so the public could ask questions about the proposed rate hike under consideration by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Many residents have criticized the proposal, noting that the state has approved other 20-percent-plus rate increases in recent years for Golden State Water, and charging that such an increase is a way for Golden State to recoup profits that otherwise would be lost because customers have conserved more water than expected.
Golden State Water officials told the crowd that the increase is necessary to keep pace with the costs of labor and benefits, maintaining facilities and lines, and spending $11 million to replace an antiquated billing system.
...
If the state approves Golden State's proposal, water company officials say, the average residential customer would see a monthly bill increase from $47.23 to $58.82, a hike of nearly 25 percent.
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Best I can tell, the average Capistrano water bill is $60.54, projected to to up to $64.24 in 2013. Golden State also serves Cypress and Stanton.
Here's the entire Register story.
Oh, this might be a good place to note that Utilities Director keith Van Der Maaten starts his second week on the job this week. He had a Utilities Commission meeting last week, on Tuesday, where officials and residents were crawling over details of the Capistrano's groundwater recovery plant. I didn't hear it directly, but I understand his quote was something to the effect of "I've gained 30 years of experience in two days."
I am tired of our city water rates increases and mismanagement.
Having an available aquifer doesn't mean cheaper rates? Wasn't that the entire idea in the beginning?
I heard an election is drawing near.2012
Interesting. I was thinking of shining up the CV. Any comments? Anyone want an official that listens to them and acts in the City's best interest. Me too.
Posted by: Jim Schneider | October 20, 2011 at 06:56 PM