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By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The budget for the Sonoma County Water Agency, which includes a 5 percent wholesale water-rate increase for most North Bay cities and districts it serves, was approved Tuesday.
The increase will show up for consumers in varying degrees, depending on how agencies pass it along to residential and business customers. Increases could show in some communities as early as June.
In Rohnert Park, there probably will be no increase in rates this year. In the Novato area, it will be part of a proposed 11 percent overall rate increase. In santa Rosa, it will mean a 2.1 percent hike in bills.
The Water Agency’s rate hike, the smallest in the past four years, reflects two primary upward pressures: a continuing decrease in how much water is being used because of successful conservation efforts and the need for $3 million to meet federal mandates to protect salmon and steelhead in the Russian River and its tributaries.
To offset some of that, the agency has cut $1.1 million from its budget by not filling vacant positions, implementing unpaid furloughs and reducing operating costs by such measures as joining a consortium to buy lower-cost electricity and relying more on solar power, General Manager Grant Davis told Sonoma County supervisors.
Davis called the increase “the lowest that we can possibly go and maintain the system.” The Board of Supervisors, which oversees the water agency, unanimously approved the 2011-12 budget.
“This is a conundrum of being successful in your water conservation efforts, and realizing that you are selling less water, knowing your operating and maintenance costs remain the same,” said board Chairman Efren Carrillo.
The increase was endorsed by the water agency’s water advisory committee, made up of city and district representatives, which praised the agency for holding increases to a minimum.
“We are all sensitive to the rates, especially at the retail level,” said Santa Rosa Councilwoman Susan Gorin, chairwoman of the advisory committee. “Each contractor is looking at declining sales, through conservation and the economy. We are realigning our own budgets to reflect the new normal. It is painful.”
The water agency increase is 5 percent for the cities and districts on the Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Marin County transmission lines and 4.28 percent for those on the Sonoma transmission line.
Santa Rosa has an automatic pass-through of the water agency charge and will increase its rates to customers by 2.1 percent.
In Rohnert Park, the water agency cost would result in a 1 percent rate increase, but is not likely to be passed on, said City Engineer Darrin Jenkins. “We will be able to work within the existing rates. We will work to avoid passing it on to ratepayers at this time,” Jenkins said.
Cotati, where the water agency cost is 21 percent of the budget, will include the increase as part of an overall rate study it will undertake this fall to address the cost of water, operations and capital costs.
The North Marin Water District gets 80 percent of its water from Sonoma County and it is 35 percent of its budget, said General Manager Chris DeGabriele.
The district is proposing an 11 percent rate increase to take effect June 1 to cover the increased water cost plus additional capital projects, DeGrabriele said.
The Marin Municipal Water District relies on Sonoma County for 25 percent of its water, and is proposing a 4 percent rate increase to cover that and other cost increases, said spokeswoman Libby Pischel.
The Sonoma County Water Agency serves 600,000 residents in Santa Rosa, Windsor, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma and Sonoma, and the Valley of the Moon, North Marin and Marin municipal water districts.
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I made the mistake of clicking on the “What They Make” link on the WSC Home Page and am absolutely stunned by the army of people working at this bloated agency and amazed at the pay rates!
It goes on for 10 pages, and 100′s of names.
Read it and weep.
http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/sonoma-county-salaries/?appSession=967213098442260&RecordID=&PageID=2&PrevPageID=1&cpipage=1&CPISortType=&CPIorderBy=
Implementation of ICLEI directive.Meet goals, or no Fed. Grant money.No grant money often no more gov. job.Perpetuates Smart, Redevelopment,etc.,etc..Gov. employees usually earn a premium(relatively speaking),so they have ‘golden handcuffs’.Anything pertaining to home ownership,AG. is incrementally under seige.Makes our own public servants complicit in the largest socially engineered oppresion/deliberate impoverishment ever..Just had over 100% of average rainfall-so they can’t do the contrived lack thing.Google:Freedom Advocates,Agenda21 for dummies,Democrats Against UN Agenda21.
Some people do not understand how our water system works, Lake Sonoma water is released down the Russian river to the pumping stations downstream and we have a Limit on our releases due to environmental reasons and fish controls. It does not go just to the ocean during the summer months and is wasted! During some of the drought years we could not release enough for the downstream users and had to conserve more. Even with a full dam.
As an employee of one of the cities who will be raising rates I want to let residents know that the majority of us do not agree with the continual rate increases. I hate that I have to tell people that even though they already are having problems paying their current bills they will soon need to pay even more. Please just remember that those who answer your calls are NOT the people who decide whether to raise your prices. We are merely the ones who have the unpleasant job of trying to explain why those rates needed to be increased (and believe me, it’s hard to explain something that you disagree with!).
I ask that anyone who opposes these rate increases to PLEASE ATTEND the meetings that you receive mailers about from the city. The city is required to mail out notices to all property owners & tenants announcing the meetings. This is the ONLY way you may be able to stop the madness. Getting upset after the fact can have no impact.
Customers living or working in Sweetwater Springs Water District’s service area (Guerneville, Monte Rio, Rio Nido, Villa Grande) might want to attend the public hearing on May 5, 2011, at 6:30 P.M. in the District’s Office located at 17081 Highway 116, Suite B, Guerneville, California.
At a time when it has enjoyed budget surpluses for the past 3 years and has reserves in excess of 2.5 million dollars the District is planning to impose 3% rate increases every year for the next nine years. While hiking rates, it is also planning to lower the minimum retirement age for its 10 employees from 65 to 55, and just made a special $240,000 contribution to their retirement account. On average those ten employees are paid approximately $160,000 in annual salaries and benefits!
If a majority of the District’s 3,800 customers do not protest the planned rate increase in writing, on or before the hearing date, the rate hike will take effect. So, if you can’t attend the meeting be sure to download the protest form at the District’s website (sweetwatersprings.com), fill it out and mail it to the District so they get it before the May 5th. meeting.
Tell your friends and neighbors to protest the rate hike and attend the hearing. This is harder to defeat than in a a normal election where the majority of votes prevails: in this situation the people who remain apathetic and don’t protest are counted as yes votes. That doesn’t seem fair. So a majority, that’s 1,901 written protests must be received by the time of the hearing,or we’ll all be subject to the rate hike.
I asked the District how much seating will be available for customers attending the hearing on May 5th. The reply speaks volumes about the District’s expectations:
“Not including the Board and staff, our conference room can accommodate an additional 8-10 people. We have held rate increase hearings in May 2008, May 2009 and in earlier years (we did not increase rates in 2010). For those hearings, our Board Room has been sufficiently large.”
Eight to ten people…that’s .0026% of the District’s customer base. Lets show them just how many tapped out customers there are who want to protest the rate hike. Attend the May 5th hearing. Let them know enough is enough.
Hud: The Elections Code applies throughout the state. However, the people of Rohnert Park passed an initiative measure in a real election that rolled back the sewer rates. Before a city council can pass a law that conflicts with an initiative they must get voter approval. See Elections Code section 9217
Water rates are too low as it is folks…we should be lucky to have water on demand 24/7.
I don’t know how much more my water bill (and utility bills) can go up. The more use I cut doesn’t seem to ever lower my bill. It just goes up and up.
Right now isn’t the time to raise rates on people who are unemployed, losing their homes and getting lower income.
Marin pays a significant premium for the water they receive from the Russian River. They pay all the marginal costs for its delivery to Marin…I don’t understand the argument. They aren’t costing Sonoma County residents anything, in fact, they are saving them money by spreading the cost. Do people understand that if we don’t take the water it goes out into the ocean? You can’t store it beyond the capacity of Lake Sonoma….what doesn’t get used is washed away. Passionate Xenophobia is not a valid argument.
Marin did not participate in the bonds for construction of Lake Sonoma. They decided later to buy water from Sonoma county years after construction. Some of you might remember the pipeline Marin had to build across the Richmond bridge to get water into Marin and It was only later that we allowed them to share our water at a cost!
I say let them absorb the increases of cost to supply.
Of course…the people are struggling so why not raise their rates. They ask us to conserve and when we do, they have to raise rates to compensate for the lost revenue. Then if we use more water, it costs more. It is three-card-monty, the only one who ever wins are the unions. We’re just revenue.
Who said a group of progressives couldn’t raise water rates while there is massive conservation and the water resevoirs have been full for two years?
Where is all of this “shared sacrifice?” Shared sacrifice is socialist speak for you pay, we spend. The truth is the county and the cities want the money because they can’t stop spending it.
I am tired of the phony political tears from the local politicans while they continue to raise taxes, fees and rates while they go on spending with no end in sight.
Sonoma County needs new leadership in elective office. A leadership that will cut spending, create a business friendly climate and let business grow and the money the politicans so desperately need will flow in.
Careful what you wish for home girl. Let’s not forget that the Russian River does not start in Sonoma County. Marin paid for the infrastructure to collect the water as much as any Sonoma County city did. Furthermore, if rates are up because deliveries are down, what do you think would happen if Marin stopped taking water? BTW, I don’t live in Marin and I never would, but let’s put our critical thinking hats on, shall we.
Unfilled positions! But they paid Michael Allen $100K+ for studies he was not qualified to produce!
Why do we continue to sell water to two Marin County water agencies? Marin County should develop its own permanent water supply.
How can they raise the water rates without a vote of the people? Why does the election code only apply to Rohnert Park, but not the County? Raising the water rates to cover increased costs only supports the developers and subsidizes their infrastructure. We need open land with views of shacks and trailer parks, not high water rates. We need an initiative to force the county to provide free water. I can go to any public fountain and drink as much as I want. Why should I have to pay for my water in my own home?
They always have a reason to justify a rate increase. It’s just amazing.
In my opinion, the County Supervisors are worthless. They approve every departments request for an increase. They must think we’re made of money.
In my opinion again, I don’t believe the Supervisors have a clue about the economy. They are the enemy of the people.
So much for consevation