Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Re: FPUD Proposed rate increase

I am adding my voice to those who have already spoken and written against the proposed rate increases by the FPUD Board of Directors.

In reviewing their proposal, it is obvious that setting annual increases relieves the board as well as the staff from tightening their financial belt as the rest of us have to do.

In addition to rate increases, the fees to the agencies who provide water add additional costs and if you check your property taxes, you will note fees to MWD are there as well.

As evidence of this, I noted an article in the Village News about the 10 percent increase in the annual wage of the Acting General Manager of the district to exceed $200,000. This in light of the entire purpose of the forming of this special district in 1922 was to provide water, and all we hear is there isn't enough water and therefore we need to raise rates.

Then the drought comes and we are told that a new scheme will be in place to force us to reduce the use of water by increasing our costs through a 3-tiered pricing. This has created an amazing inequity to those people who own property in excess of a city-sized lot. San Diego County has zoned this area in large lots, that by their very nature requires more landscaping and thus more water usage.

The drought has been formally declared ended, but the 3-tier pricing continues because the users have cut down so much the district claims they don't have enough income to do their job. They now state that this tiered system will be continued in order to plan for future droughts.

Nowhere in any of this talk, talk, talk have I seen any future planning for a reservoir or other methods to save water during the rainy season. The obvious self-fulfilling fallacy of this reasoning should be clear to anyone who can think.

I would encourage everyone who receives water from FPUD, to send a letter of objection to these proposed rate increases.

Pat Bennie

 

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