Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Southern California Category
Click here to view all posts

City of Palmdale protests water rate hike; we all should, too, says editorial

Posted by: Maven on April 28, 2009 at 5:53 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

“The formulas used to determine the rate are very complex and do not appear to be based on accurate information.”

That’s the assessment of Palmdale city officials about Palmdale Water District officials’ proposal to drastically hike their customers’ monthly water bills, using a multi-tiered pricing system that raises rates higher and higher as water usage increases.

City officials last week did what Palmdale Water officials hope many property owners won’t do: they protested in writing against the fee increase, and if enough other property owners do so the rate increase is blocked.

Under Proposition 218, a ballot measure approved by California voters in 1996, a rate increase by a water district can be blocked if more than half its property owners protest in writing. In this case, the protests must be filed before the end of a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13.

Palmdale Water officials have not disclosed how many individual property owners are in the district, but the city protest obviously goes a long way to accounting for half: 28,334 individual parcels are under city ownership, making a list that covers 95 pages of closely-spaced parcel numbers.

Read more of this editorial from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

April 28, 2009 · Filed Under Southern California

Comments

Leave a Reply