Friends of San Lorenzo Valley Water Customers
Advocating for SLVWD Customers
About us
The San Lorenzo Valley Water District has a history of supplying reliable and clean water to its customers, and for that we are grateful. We love our District.
But like many monopolies or governmental agencies, District management operates its finances with less-than-optimal fiscal restraint, and in fact has some of the very highest water rates in the entire state. Until now, rate payers had little choice but to pay whatever the District deemed reasonable.
Through this citizen-advocacy group, we hope to add transparency and accountability to how the District conducts business, and cap further rate increases to match increases in the general cost of living.
The Friends of San Lorenzo Valley Water Customers accepts no donations
Schedule of District Events
Time | Date | Event |
6:30PM | Sept 19 2024 | Board of Directors Meeting |
2:00PM | Oct 9 2024 |
Articles
Prop 218
It’s logical to expect rate increases. We NEED a rate increase. Prop 218, passed years ago, was designed to limit government’s ability to raise taxes. But it has not worked as promised. Instead, it’s virtually impossible for rate increase proposals to fail. Prop 218 meant that the latest increase was NOT approved by a majority of rate payers.
Measure U
There’s an opportunity to vote on whether rate increases should be fair or not. As written, the new rate increase places an unfair burden on customers who use very little water. Measure U introduces democracy to the process.
Lies and elections
It’s a shame that toadies for the District must resort to lies and deception designed to fool, not educate, the public.
Democracy can’t work if the electorate are lied to by special interests.
Contact Us
friendslvwdc@gmail.com
Lies and Elections
In a recent issue of AARP magazine, a writer states that Schwinn introduced the Sting Ray in 1963 in response to things like the popularity of the movie Easy Rider. Easy Rider came out in 1969.
Of course, this is a harmless lie, and probably just lazy reporting. But when people fabricate the truth to swing an election, it’s more serious; it’s a threat to democracy. Opponents of Measure U are fear-mongering because the truth doesn’t fit their narrative. We’re discouraged about our poor “democratic” process evident in this issue, and don’t see how our electorate can make informed decisions when they don’t have the facts. Here are some of the lies we’ve heard:
- Claims that if the most recent rate increase is overturned, the district won’t have funds to fix broken pipes is a lie. A look at the current financial statement exposes that. In fact, the district holds enough funds in reserve for 4.5 months of UNEXPECTED new work. But it sure sounds scary if you believe the lie.
- Claims that reversing the most recent rate increase will result in poorer service is a lie. There are currently PLENTY of funds to handle services (see latest financial statement) and the only negative impact down the road would be if the board of directors fail to do their duty and pass a FAIR rate increase.
- Claims that heavy users will bear a much bigger share of the latest rate increase is a huge lie. On a cost/gallon or unit, lower water users’ rates are going up much faster than for someone who’s filling an Olympic-sized swimming pool every day. Using the district’s own figures from the Dec 2023 report to the board, someone using 2 units per month would pay $41.37 per unit and someone using 6 units would pay $20.62 per unit. The fixed portion of your bill has just increased by over 35%! Measure U hopes to fix this. Ask your single neighbor why his/her bill just skyrocketed and you’ll get the truth.
- Our water rates are in the top 5% in the state. Claims that this is because we are a rural, spread-out district with hills is a lie. The size and rural nature of our district explains why we’re in the top 50% of costs, but not the top 5%. There are dozens of districts with similar or worse challenges and most of them don’t enjoy the water that comes from living in a rain forest like we do, and their rates are much lower. Though this is an old report, as an example, the June Lake district priced 600 cubic feet of water at $35.85, while SLVWD was at $104.94. June Lake is very mountainous and rural.
- Claims that we must increase our fixed prices as a percentage of the total bill because the district has a large infrastructure to support is a lie. A better alternative would be to charge more for usage. Like PGE for power, Safeway for food, Chevron for gas, etc.
What are the next lies? Claiming that proponents of Measure U are eating SLV dogs and cats??
Measure U
A Yes on grassroots Measure U is your support for an equitable rate structure. Limiting fixed charges will help make water affordable for those who use the least and spreads a Fair Share balance across all users. The sharply rising Service Charge and proliferation of additional fixed charges has unfairly shifted the primary cost burden onto low water users. Fixed charges have roughly doubled since 2021. At the same time, the District lowered the price of water for most customers, foolishly giving up over a million dollars a year while creating a rate structure that is upside-down, where lower water users now subsidize higher water users. The purpose of Measure U is to tilt the balance back to being more based on actual water usage and less about fixed charges you must pay before using a drop of water.
Using the district’s own figures from the Dec 2023 report to the board, someone using 2 units per month would pay $41.37 per unit and someone using 6 units would pay $20.62 per unit. So a single person with a small lot and tiny garden is subsidizing the big water user with an almond orchard and Olympic-sized swimming pool. Candidly, this has always been true; the rate increase on the fixed fee portion of your bill just makes it worse.
MEASURE U WILL NOT ...
Measure U will not end rate increases. The Measure U proponents realize that we DO need a rate increase in order to keep up with rising costs. Measure U is a referendum against the unfair rate increase, NOT all rate increases.
Measure U will NOT put your water at risk. The smart people running the district won’t sit on their hands if the measure passes. They will propose another rate increase immediately. But having heard from the voters if Measure U passes, their new proposal will be fairer; it will not unfairly burden customers who don’t use much water. And it will pass thanks to Prop 218, so at worst, the district will miss out on the increased revenues from the fixed fees for a few months. If you assume that the fixed fee portion of increase for a few months is lost, then the district will be out less than $500K, a small portion of expected revenues and expenses. The District has millions in the bank, and millions more in a reserve fund, plus the ability to borrow money in case of another major catastrophe. There’s plenty of money available to tide the district over until a fair rate increase is passed. Projects will not “grind to a halt” over $500K.
A vote for Measure U is a vote for fairness, affordability, and water conservation.
Propostion 218 was passed in 1996 with the best of intentions. But the effect on water district rates in California has proven to be very advantageous to districts addicted to higher rates, and a disaster for rate payers. Water rates have increased much faster than the inflation rate, and faster than PGE rates. Because of Prop 218, it’s almost impossible for rate change proposals to fail.
Hypothetically speaking, if there are 8,000 registered rate-paying voters in a district, and 4,000 of them vote AGAINST a rate increase, and zero of them vote FOR a rate increase, it passes anyway. To fail, it would take 4,000 + 1 votes “against”. California water districts know that any proposal is likely to pass, and in fact, it’s incredibly rare for any rate proposal to fail.
The best hope for fair rate increases is for elected district directors to provide a “watchdog” function, and not simply rubber stamp district decisions. Sadly, not all SLVWD directors are providing the necessary watchdog function.
Measure U is simply an attempt to inject democracy into the process. The side with the most votes wins. Like democracy is supposed to function.