LeakBird

(March 6, 2009, The Mercury News)

Residents of a Santa Cruz Mountains hamlet have successfully argued that a 30 percent water rate hike in financially-tough times is too much.

The San Lorenzo Valley Water District got more than 1,500 written objections out of its 7,300 customers, as well as a vocal crowd at the board’s Thursday night meeting.

Just before midnight, the district’s board of directors voted unanimously to compromise and raise rates 20 percent over three years instead of 30 percent. Rates rise 12 percent this year and 8 percent in 2010.

Board chairman Fred McPherson says he’s sympathetic to customers dealing with hard financial times. The district says it needs money to meet service obligations, regulatory requirements and capital improvements.

(Original Article Here)

Related posts:

1. Santa Clara Valley Water District to Impose Mandatory Water Rationing on 1.7M Customers: 10 – 20% (MercuryNews) (Feb. 10. 2009, The Mercury News) Santa Clara County residents...
2. One Step Closer to Mandatory Water Rationing: Silicon Valley Water Supplier Recommends 15% Mandatory Water Usage Reduction; Will 13 Water Retailers Who Supply Water to Customers via the Santa Clara Valley Water District Setup Tiered Water Rates? (MercuryNews) (March 20, 2009, The Mercury News) The pain of a...
3. Water Restrictions Approved for Santa Cruz, California: Steep Fines of Up to $500.00 (MercuryNews) (April 28, 2009, The Mercury News) Water restrictions will begin...
4. Santa Clara Water District Asks Customers to Voluntarily Cutback Water Usage by 15% (MercuryNews) (March 25, 2009, The Mercury News) Silicon Valley’s largest water...
5. Santa Clara Valley Water District Woes: Drawing Down Water Reserves No Policy; That’s Why Milpitas Has Killer Water Conservation Rebates!!! (MilpitasPostOnline) (Jan. 21, 2009, The Milpitas Post Online) BASKING in the...