Ratepayers are about to start absorbing those hotly debated increases to water rates.
Water rates will increase Tuesday for most Hollister ratepayers. In August, the Hollister City Council unanimously approved the Hollister Urban Area Water Project along with rate hikes to pay for $30 million in capital and maintenance costs largely related to lowering salt content in groundwater. State regulators have threatened fines if federal water standards are not met. Those same regulators fined San Juan Bautista $136,000 for failing to meet water standards last year.
The new rates don’t kick in for Hollister area residents until Jan. 21, after the billing cycle ends.
As an example, for a single-family residence with a five-eighths-inch meter in the Sunnyslope Water District, the average rate is going from $49.52 to $55.09 this month, according to a fact sheet from the district. The rates would increase incrementally for the next five years through 2019 under the plan. By 2019, that same family would pay an additional $12 on the water bill under the new rate increases, according to the district.
Advocates of the improvements contend the improved water quality is worth it. According to project’s website, an upgraded Lessalt treatment plant off Fairview Road will treat up to two million gallons of water daily.
“The contractor began the work on the existing Lessalt plant last November,” said Harry Blohm, the project manager for the Hollister Urban Area Water Project.
He said there will be no process for improvements until October 2014 and he expects the upgraded plant will be fully operational by December of that year.
The West Hills Water Treatment Plant, planned for a San Justo Reservoir site, is under design and should be completed by 2016, he said.
Criticism of water rate hikes
Those planned improvements and increases haven’t slid by without some criticism, though. Robert Bernosky, the chairman of the county Republican Party, said he has “been very critical” of local and water officials for the rate hikes.
He said he had organized a petition drive to convince the water district to lower the rates, but was ignored by officials.
“They went against the will of the people and went against the democratic process,” he said. “Elected officials didn’t debate the issue, and that’s just plain wrong.”
He estimates that because of the rates, his own personal water bill will go up 20 percent this year compared with last year.
“One of the problems we have is we are paying a premium for these services but are not getting a premium level,” he said.
He said due to the formula’s criteria, he is paying an additional 40 percent for water during the winter months because the amount he pays for sewage is added to the water bill. He believes that means residents pay the sewage bill twice.
“We’re paying huge amounts for water,” he said.
Councilman Ray Friend said the council is looking to reduce sewer rates to offset the hike in water rates.
“You are going to see some relief on that end,” he said. “It shouldn’t cost that much.”
He also said the city is reviewing the current sewer rate formula in order to fix the discrepancy of which Bernosky spoke.
Friend underscored that the state mandated certain water quality standards to meet, or else.
“The fines over the five years to pay off the new plants would have been doubled,” he said. “We’re just trying to stay ahead of the curve.”
City officials understand if people are unhappy with the new rates, but stressed the financial need.
“I don’t think anybody is really happy about the rise in cost of their essentials,” said Jim Hart, head of the city’s water department.
But he said the changes were based on an examination done by experts, and what it takes to make repairs and operate the water systems effectively.
“The bottom line is we understand people’s concerns and objections,” Hart said. “But like everything, operating a system requires money and maintaining it and complying with requirements of state and federal government.”
Don Ridenhour, the general manager of the Sunnyslope Water District, said his district has continually spread the word about the new rates. He acknowledged that most people who received the notices were unaware of the changes.
“We sent out mailers and ran ads at the movie theater,” he said. “We’re going to continue to do that sort of thing, like mail stuffers.”
