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Fallbrook Public Utility District approves water rate increase for 2018

Some Fallbrook Public Utility District customers may see their water rates increase by as much as 6.5 percent following the approval of a rate hike by the district board during a meeting on Monday, Dec. 11.

The board voted 4-1, with director Milt Davies dissenting, to approve the rate increase. Customers, especially those who are heavy water users, may see a 6.5 percent increase in the cost of water, a 6.5 percent increase in the cost of recycled water and a 4.5 percent increase in the cost of wastewater, according to a presentation from acting general manager Jack Bebee.

A letter sent to customers by the district earlier in the year showed that water rates could increase by as much 8 percent per year over the next five years for some customers, but Bebee stressed that that those figures were based on numbers that were estimated and not yet known, such as the cost of water from the San Diego County Water Authority.

He said that once the district determined how much it would actually cost to purchase water in the coming year and found other cost saving measures, they were able to downgrade the increase from 8 percent to 6.5 percent for customers.

He said that 6.5 percent is the maximum increase and is not uniform for all customers Some residential customers, he said, may only see an increase of about 3 percent over last year.

"Most of our customers see less than 6 and ½ percent," Bebee said. "Larger meters, larger users see more."

Bebee also noted that the increase they were approving was just for the coming year and that the schedule of an 8 percent increase per year represented "a maximum ceiling for rates over the next five years."

He said that each year the board will revisit increasing water rates for the next year and will not be able to exceed that specified 8 percent without having to send out another notice to the public.

In previous years, the board would notify the public of increases on a year-to-year basis, but Bebee said there was a reason for putting out a five year schedule.

"Some of the directors, who have a business background, said we're managing a $30 million business, we should have a long term plan," Bebee said. "We shouldn't plan year to year; we should plan out the future and look at what things look like so as part of that, they said let's look at what our water costs have been, what they might be in the future and develop a plan."

Bebee said the cost of water rates will only ever increase, rather than decrease, as suppliers of water such as the Metropolitan Water District and San Diego County Water Authority embark on large scale water infrastructure projects among other factors.

"Lawns in Southern California are becoming expensive and they're going to be expensive," he said.

Roughly a dozen people spoke at the meeting, many expressing concern and frustration about the rate increases.

Fallbrook resident Lori Tillery suggested some things she thought the board should consider with regard to the water rates including spreading their capital improvement projects out over more years so as to keep the rates lower, doing more outreach to get citizens involved and considering the establishment of a "community policy review group."

"I know government hates to have people sit on your committees because you consider it a real pain," Tillery said. "However, the people that have shown up for your last two meetings and that have written protest letters, which I have heard nothing about tonight (and) which is part of your 218 process. People are involved; people want to know what's going on and be participatory."

Paula de Sousa Mills, the general legal counsel for the district, later explained how ratepayers could potentially stop the board from being able to vote on the increase as outlined in Proposition 218.

"If the written protests against the proposed rates are presented by a majority of owners of the identified parcels upon which the charges are to be imposed, or tenants directly responsible for payment, the district board of directors may not impose the rate increase," she said.

However, only 1,651 people wrote letters of protest, which was not enough to be considered a majority.

The board also approved an agreement with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton for the Camp Pendleton Conjunctive Use Project, which will capture available water that currently flows through the Santa Margarita River and into the Pacific Ocean.

The project could ultimately supply as much as 30 percent of Fallbrook's water and reduce the district's dependence on agencies such as the San Diego County Water Authority.

Bebee touted the project's benefits and said it would help keep rates lower, though it wouldn't lower them beyond what they already are.

"We have a plan to try to make them go up less than they have been and less than they would otherwise," he said. "But there is no utility in San Diego County that is going to make their rates go down."

 

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