CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board on Friday held it second hearing on proposed water and sewer rate increases, making modifications that will result in another reading next month.
The district held an initial hearing on April 16 before the Friday meeting. While there were about 50 people in attendance at the first hearing, that number was down to about half a dozen on Friday, according to General Manager Matt Bassett.
Bassett said the increases are needed to cover district operating expenses as well as providing needed funding for extensive updates to the district's aging decades-old infrastructure.
Increases, as detailed in the documents and charts shown here, would be rolled out over three years, beginning in the July billing cycle, Bassett said.
At Friday's meeting, “The board made some proposed revisions and we’re going to work on them,” said Bassett.
The district's rate increase proposal has included switching its billing system from only charging active accounts to charging all service connections.
The biggest change that the board agreed to work into its increase proposals, Bassett said, is that it will allow individuals who don't want to pay the monthly base rate to disconnect their water and sewer connections without being charged capital expansion fees.
In other words, they will not have to pay thousands of dollars to reconnect to the system in the future, as they have already paid that cost once, he said.
“That is by far the main change” to the rate increase proposals, Bassett said. The documents are still open to additional revision if necessary.
The changes the board accepted on Friday will necessitate a new second reading, which Bassett said will happen at the next regular board meeting, Thursday, May 21.
Even with the changes, the new rates are still set to go into effect in July, Bassett said.
Bassett said the updated documents will be posted on the district's Web site, www.clocwd.org , next week. Below are posted the documents in their current form, along with the hearing notice.
Also on Friday, Bassett presented a preliminary district budget for the 2015-16 budget year.
Bassett has crafted a budget that shows no increases in the cost of labor or supplies.
However, he said it will include an increased cost for infrastructure repairs.
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April 2015 - Clearlake Oaks County Water District water and sewer rate ordinance