ENCINITAS: San Dieguito Water District raises rates
By: Barbara Henry

A campaign led by the local taxpayers association netted slightly more than 1,000 protest letters, but that wasn't enough to block a San Dieguito Water District rate increase Wednesday.

The Encinitas City Council, in its role as the board of the San Dieguito Water District, voted 4-1, with Councilwoman Teresa Barth opposed, to increase water rates starting March 1.

Under the proposed increases, the average residential customer in the district could see his or her bill go up by 13.5 percent. An average residential water user now pays $99.30 a month, and that would increase to $112.71, or an extra $13.41 a month, according to district figures.

The San Dieguito district covers the western portions of town ---- Leucadia, Old Encinitas, Cardiff and parts of New Encinitas. Olivenhain Municipal Water District serves eastern parts of town.

Under state law, the district's board could have been blocked from enacting the proposed rate increase if 50 percent plus one of the property owners in the district had submitted protests. The district serves 13,005 property owners, so the estimated 1,070 protest letters submitted by Wednesday night weren't anywhere near enough, district employees said.

Opponents said they had done the best they could in just a few weeks to collect protest letters. About a dozen people spoke against the rate increase, including local business owners and retired residents.

Kevin Cummins, vice president of the Encinitas Taxpayers Association, said the water rate was ill-conceived and that the district should be run by an independent entity rather than by the City Council.

Robert Frank, who runs a mediation business, said the recent economic downturn had forced him to reduce his employees' salaries. He argued that the water district should do the same.

"What efforts have been made on a business-like basis? I think none," he said.

A retired woman said she converted her backyard landscaping to drought-tolerant plants yet would now be punished for her conservation efforts by a rate increase.

Councilwoman Barth, who served on the subcommittee that unanimously recommended the rate increase, said Wednesday night that she had re-thought that recommendation. Opponents' arguments that the district should cut costs by eliminating raises and reducing benefits for its employees was a good one, she said.

Councilman James Bond disagreed, saying reopening the district employee contracts would likely only cause strife rather than actual wage reductions.

The district employees have two years remaining under their current contract.

Barth's suggestion that the district go for a 5.5 percent increase instead of the higher proposal was initially supported by Councilman Jerome Stocks, who later said he had changed his mind. He voted with the majority.

Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan said she was supporting the full rate increase because the district should maintain its infrastructure and not dip too deeply into its reserves. Meanwhile, Bond said that San Dieguito is far from alone when it comes to rate increases.

Water customers across the region are facing double-digit rate increases in response to regional water supplier rate increases. Statewide drought conditions and increased environmental restrictions in the Sacramento delta region have both played a part in those increases, suppliers have said.

"Sorry to be (a) harbinger of doom, but I don't see water rates going down ... in Southern California" any time soon, Bond said.