News of the Arroyo
Title: | Pasadena business say water rate increase could raise bills by 50 percent |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2009-06-02 |
Summary: | June 2, 2009 - Pasadena businesses are concerned that proposed water rate hikes could hit them hard right when they're already hurting. |
Author: | Dan Abendschein, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star-News |
Content: | Pasadena business say water rate increase could raise bills by 50 percent By Dan Abendschein Staff Writer Posted: 06/01/2009 12:53:42 PM PDT PASADENA - California School of Culinary Arts director Tony Bondi knows his Pasadena campus is in the city\'s top 5 percent of biggest water users, but the prospect of a 47 percent hike in the cooking school\'s water bill is simply \"punitive,\" he said. \"We\'ve done tremendous amounts of conservation, but nobody rewards us for conservation,\" Bondi said at a gathering of business owners and representatives to discuss proposed water rate hikes they say could increase their bills by nearly 50 percent. Pasadena has proposed increasing residential water bills to the tune of $10 a month for the average customer. But since many businesses use more water than the average residence, the rate increases will be even larger for them. That doesn\'t sit well with the business community. \"The cost of these increases is not being apportioned properly. The residents ought to pay for a larger share of this,\" Pasadena Chamber of Commerce President Paul Little said at Friday\'s meeting with city officials. The city proposed the rate hikes after Pasadena\'s main water supplier announced it will cut its water transfers by 10 percent. If all of Pasadena\'s water customers cut usage by 10 percent, water officials believe, the city could avoid paying the supplier inflated water prices. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the proposed increase on June 8. It is part of the city\'s overall plan to conserve water, which includes new Advertisement Quantcast restrictions limiting watering of landscapes to three times a week, and banning watering altogether between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Businesses likely will be impacted more by the rate increases because they use 45 percent of the city\'s water, even though they make up just 10 percent of water customers. Business owners Friday said the plan punishes them even though they are doing their best to conserve as much as possible. Down the road, the city might make changes to its rate system that would allay some of those concerns. The council has directed Pasadena Water and Power to look at budget-based rates, which would charge customers based on how much water they should reasonably expect to use. That means that high-water-using businesses could save on their water bill by making improvements that would increase their water efficiency. But those potential changes are a year away - a fact that prompted Little to suggest the city consider delaying the increase until the new budget-based rate system is devised. That would also give the economy a chance to recover, which would help businesses manage the new costs, he said. \"This is a terrible time to be adding new costs to businesses. I\'m concerned it will be a tipping point for some businesses,\" Little said. Other business-related fees are also going up in the city, he pointed out. Pasadena recently increased trash fees and is considering a wide array of permit fees, many of which would be paid mostly by local businesses, he said. But PWP chief Phyllis Currie said the city has little choice but to pass on the increase. \"If we don\'t pass along the cost and don\'t cut our water use, (the Metropolitan Water District) will just increase the cost of the water we buy from them,\" she said. City officials plans to transfer $3.2 million from the water fund to the general fund, an annual practice. The rate increases would bring an estimated $4.5 million to the utility. A large portion of that, $3.1 million, would go into the utility\'s reserve fund to pay for water infrastructure projects the city has been working on. Council members have expressed concerns that much of the rate increase will go towards projects rather than paying for new water increases. But PWP officials say the utility needs to beef up its reserves fund, which the city has dipped into in the past in order to subsidize the true cost of customers\' water. dan.abendschein@sgvn.com (626) 962-8811, Ext. 4451 |
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