HELIX WATER DISTRICT PROPOSES HEFTY WATER RATE INCREASE

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New rates start metering May 1, Public Hearing May 27

By Kristin Hobbs Kjaero and Rachel Ford Hutman

The Proposal

(Rachel Ford Hutman)

April 21, 2009 (La Mesa) - If you are one of the 260,000 residents in the
Helix Water District, you may soon be paying a minimum increase of 20% more
for your water—and for some heavy users, several times higher than those with
low water usage. 

On March 4 the district’s Board of Directors voted 3-2 to issue a notice of
a public hearing May 27, for rate increases which would increase the base rate
by 20% for the first 10 units of water, plus an additional sliding scale based
on usage. For example, a user of 75 units will have an increase of 49%.

At the same time, the Board will also “consider a resolution authorizing staff
to pass through future, unanticipated increases to rates and charges imposed
by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California [MWD] and the San Diego
County Water Authority (SDCWA) for wholesale water sold to Helix Water District
over the next five years, 2009-2014.”

Another 20% rate increase is expected by MWD in 2011.

Thursday April 23 SDCWA voted to raise the water shortage condition
to Level II, in which case each water district will have mandatory cuts.

Board Member Kathleen Coates Hedberg said they the district has received 63
letters to date, and that “as we represent the customers, letters are important
feedback for us in making our decisions. It also let’s us know people are aware
of what’s been proposed and what may be coming.”

Although the hearing is scheduled for May 27, “effective July 1” refers to
billing date which means the increase would start being metered retroactively
from May 1, i.e. twenty-six days before the public hearing for those who are
billed in July under Helix’s staggered billing system.

Helix Water District includes La Mesa, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, Spring Valley
and adjoining unincorporated areas.

Why a sliding scale?

Helix General Manager Mark Weston explained, “We wanted a rate structure that
will encourage conservation - that’s the underlying motive for all this. We
are changing our rate structure to put pressure on people now… because if we
wait until next year it may be too late in terms of getting people to reduce
their water usage.”

““Those who conserve may be paying less than the cost, while heavy users may
pay more, subsidizing the lower users,” Weston said.

After Helix sent letters to 100 customers using more than 100 units per billing
cycle, however, questions of fairness, higher commodity rates than other districts,
and Helix’s status as an irrigation district have begun to arise as a result
of the proposed sliding scale.

Letter recipients Rob and Toni Petruzzo live in El Cajon on six acres with
children, fruit trees and horses, in a house Toni’s parents built when she
was a child. Rob Petruzzo objected to the subjective way the proposal distributes
rates among Helix’s customers. “Someone in a condo that isn’t using 33 units
may think they can splurge a bit more, while people who have a large family
or acreage or livestock are being punished, even if they cut back severely.”

“We all realize that we need to conserve water, but if they want people to
cut 30%, we should all have to cut 30%,” Petruzzo stated, “If we can’t afford
to keep the property, it makes as much sense for us to divide our lot and sell
it as multiple smaller parcels as to sell it to a developer who will - the
irony is that then it would be acceptable to use more water than we do now
under Helix’s plan.”

Since receiving his letter from Helix Water District, Dave Carter sent out
an e-mail he hopes people will pass on to others. Carter noted that Helix’s
rates are higher than other districts, a fact confirmed by Weston. “We’re probably
on the high sides of districts for the commodity rate. We’re 75%, others are
65-70%, and the state goal is 70%.”

Like the Petruzzos, Dave Carter is angry at the imbalance in the sliding scale,
and argues that instead of encouraging the very people who most need to cut
back, it puts them in an impossible situation.

Carter has a family of four, an acre of land, and more than 20 fruit trees.
He said that although he’s already put in low flow fixtures, even if his family
cut their usage by 50% they will still be over the “average” base and their
rate would increase by 67%. "I absolutely understand that we need to save
water, but the way that they're setting this up.... we're being penalized before
we even start."

 He feels it is wrong to use an “average” customer’s rate as the base
line, and that it’s more important to look at prior usage as well as household
and lot size. “Don't lump us in with single people living in a one bedroom
apartment and say that right down the middle of that is average use.  It
doesn't work that way, and Helix is the only district that is doing this.”

In both examples above, it is worth noting that Helix is different from other
Water Districts in the area in that it was created in 1913 as an Irrigation
District, and legally remains so today. Like many families in the area, they
cherish their semi-rural situation, while Helix’s General Manager Mark Weston
refers to the district as “urban.” How the Board balances this difference in
views will be key to their situation.

When asked about families living in more rural parts of the district, Weston
referred back to the customer average, and explained that although no commercial
operations remain which receive agricultural rates directly from MWD, there
are still thirteen customers with more than a acre that have commercial operations
and receive an agricultural rate from Helix. “Hopefully we can get them changed
to an irrigation meter and put them on a water budget.” While this would shift
usage from one meter to another without adding new customers or demands for
water, it would cost each customer an estimated $2,300-$2,400.

Calculations

The March 4 Helix Board vote was based on an estimated 30% increase staff
calculated, based on cost increase and supply cuts it anticipated would be
passed on in January by their wholesaler, SDCWA, from its supplier, MWD. Last
year the district used some reserve funds, and the estimate aimed to preserve
further reserve funds, given the uncertainty of future water availability and
the current financial environment.

On April 14, MWD approved both a 19.7% rate increase as of Sept 1, and 10%
water delivery cuts as of July. Weston says they expect to learn what SDCWA
will do in May.

Arriving at the amount to increase rates was not a straight line. Weston explained,
“If we look purely at how much more revenue we need to collect next year compared
to this year, including wholesale water rates, labor expenses, no increases
to capital or operating budgets, and not using any reserve funds while maintaining
infrastructure, we need a 16% revenue increase. Factor in selling 10% less
water and we are going to need 22% more revenue next year.”

According to Weston, accounting after accounting for the various effective
dates of Helix’s proposed rate change, MWD’s rate increase and when water supplies
will be cut, the 30% estimated increase turned out to be in line with the 22%
revenue increase needed reduced, the 30% estimated increase equates to the
22% more funds needed for the year running July 1,2009 to June 30, 2010.

Consumer Conservation Tools

East County Magazine’s intern, Rachel Ford Hutman put together this guide
to water conservation.

There are lots of ways to ration water: turn off water when brushing teeth,
take showers, don’t let water run when washing dishes, fill one sink with wash
water and the other with rinse water, only run dishwasher and washing machine
when full, use garbage disposal sparingly and compost vegetable waste instead.
Get your children excited about conserving water also, and give them rewards
for using less water; maybe a trip to the park if they turn off water when
brushing teeth.  Another great tip is filling a 2 litter bottle with water
and putting it in the back of your toilet, so less water is used with each
flush.

More resources:

  • The Water Conservation Garden’s Hotline is open for calls Tuesdays 8:30am
    – 12:00pm and Thursdays 1:00pm – 4:30pm at 866-962-7021.

 


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