Cambria water protest stops second rate rise

Two board members said enough ratepayers didn’t want the increase

Kathe Tanner

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Cambrians will pay 12 percent more for water and sewage-treatment service through June, but services district directors didn’t approve the rest of a proposed increase.

A ratepayers’ protest against the package failed by a margin of less than 2 percent, according to Cambria Community Services District records, so directors certified the results of the count. But two of the four board members at a meeting last week said they wouldn’t approve a second rate increase to take effect July 1, 2009, because such a significant number of Cambria residents and property owners had officially objected.

It was the second rate-increase protest launched by Cambria citizens within a year. The first one succeeded.

Taxpayers group wants records preserved
A statewide organization has warned the Cambria Community Services District not to destroy any records from the recent protest against rate increases.

On Monday, Timothy Bittle, director of legal affairs for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, put the Cambria Community Services District on notice to preserve all evidence, as already required by state law.

Eric Eisenhammer is the association�s expert on Proposition 218, the law that allows a majority public protest to stop water-and sewer-rate increases.

He said the association wants �taxpayers in Cambria to be able to inspect the protests and be able to get a good idea if this protest procedure was conducted fairly, according to Proposition 218� and if protests were invalidated according to the rules.

�In a typical election, it�s a secret ballot,� he said. �A protest procedure is not an election, and it is handled differently.� Signed protest letters are considered public records. That �allows us to verify that the vote was fair.�
How Much
As of Sept. 1, a Cambria Community Services District bi-monthly bill for 12 units of water will rise $15.55 to $145.45 from the current bill of $129.90. A unit is 748 gallons.

The district says the increases will help make the water and sewage-treatment departments financially self-sufficient and pay for system improvements.

Cambria has been under a virtual building moratorium since November 2001, when the district declared a water-shortage emergency.

The action comes less than 11 weeks before the Nov. 4 election in which three CCSD seats are on the ballot, and seven candidates are vying to fill them.

The second rate increase would have cumulatively added another 14 percent to ratepayers’ bi-monthly bills.

Watchdog group

Protest-count details were disputed by most of the 17 audience members who spoke during the hearing. Most are participants in the Cambrians for Fiscal Responsibility watchdog group. Many said community members no longer trust district directors or staff members.

Comments ranged from straightforward questions about the counting process to Cynthia Matthews’ accusations of “waste, fraud and abuse.”

Jeff Hellman said, with district staff leading the count and invalidating nearly 25 percent of submitted protests, “When you let the foxes tell the farmer the chick count, there could be problems.”

Many who protested have said they don’t necessarily oppose the rate increases but did object to an $8.1 million loan that was part of the package. The loan was to have provided funding for a new water-storage tank on Stuart Street and replacing key water equipment at the Rodeo Grounds Pump Station.

It also would have paid the district back for money already invested in the $3.5 million water tanks on Pine Knolls and a $1.2 million system that removes water from sewage, making disposal less costly. The district said that money would have gone into reserve accounts for the water and sewage-treatment departments.