Golden Hills CSD directors approve water rate study
Directors of the Golden Hills Community Services District took the first step toward what will likely be a water rate increase for its nearly 3,000 customers later this year.
Meeting on Jan. 19, the board reviewed and approved a water rate study completed for the district by Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group of Bakersfield. Based upon a review of revenue and expenditures, the consultant recommended adjustments to the district’s water rate schedule. In addition to annual operating expenses, which include salaries and benefits of employees, the consultant reviewed capital expenditures such as new wells and well rehabilitation necessary to keep up the system, as well as reserves required to stabilize and support financial management.
If the district continues charging existing rates it will be operating at a deficit by next fiscal year, the consultant determined.
Goals for adjusting a water rate schedule include fairness of the rates and equity among the different classes of customers, so that individuals pay their fair share of the cost incurred by the utility to provide the service, the report states. Different rates are established for commercial and
residential customers.
According to documents prepared by the consultant, with the proposed increase, in 2023 a single-family residential customer would see an average rate increase of about $5.07 per month. Overall, all single-family customers would see a total rate increase of between $2.55 and $6.93 per month, depending on usage.
The district is required to notify its customers of the increase in fees by Proposition 218, a constitutional amendment approved by California voters in 1996. Prop 218 requires agencies like the GHCSD to conduct a vote of the affected property owners for any
proposed new or increased assessment before it can be levied. If a majority of property owners protest, the district cannot make the change.
Copies of notices that will be sent out to property owners were included in the consultant’s report. Property owners will have 45 days to respond and a public hearing will be held to allow comments on the proposed changes, typically just prior to the final directors’ vote.
The proposed rate increases also include a provision to further adjust rates every July for a period of five years. Rates may, but are not required to be, adjusted for inflation at the rate of a specific consumer price index.
In February 2022, the board increased the base and consumptive rates for water by 4.9 percent effective last April 1. Wells said at the time that the increase was in line with the future increase policy approved through the Proposition 218 procedure on March 1, 2019. According to a resolution approved by the board the increase was in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.
The district supplies potable
water to approximately 2,960 metered connections within the district, including single-family homes, duplexes and apartment buildings as well as businesses, schools and parks. Since 2016 the number of connections has increased by an average of .8 percent per year.
Golden Hills resident Carl Gehricke addressed the board about water rates and said more communication with the community is needed. Board President John Buckley said the district will provide more information before actually considering the proposed rate increase and property owners will have an opportunity to protest.
Letters will be mailed noticing the time and date of the Proposition 218 hearing and also providing greater detail and the proposed rate increase and why it is needed, Buckley said. Property owners will also be provided with a form they can use to protest the rate increase, if desired.
A date for the hearing has not yet been set.
MARILYN WHITE HONORED
Former Director Marilyn White, who was first elected to the board in November 2014 and ran without opposition in 2018 — serving a total of eight years — was honored by the board for her service. Wells read a resolution that noted highlights of the district’s accomplishments during White’s time on the board including her service as vice president and as a member of the Lands Committee, Finance Committee and other ad hoc committees.
During her tenure, the resolution noted, a strategic plan was developed for the nature park and a number of important capital improvement projects were completed. She and fellow board members secured a more permanent housing site for Kern County Fire Department’s Station 13 and also led the district through one of the most difficult times in the nation’s history, the global pandemic.
SPECIAL MEETING JAN. 25
An agenda for a special meeting of the board at 5 p.m. on Jan. 25 was posted on Jan. 19. The agenda noted that the board would hold a closed session to confer with legal counsel about anticipated litigation. The nature of the litigation was not specified.
At the Jan. 19 meeting, the board deferred election of officers because all members were not in attendance.
It’s possible that the election and other matters may be added to the special meeting agenda in which case it’s likely that a new agenda will be published prior to Jan. 25.
The district’s meetings are held in the boardroom at the CSD office, 21415 Reeves St., Tehachapi. Agendas are published online at ghcsd.com.