Ramona district weighs rate hikes of 7% for water, 4.5% for sewer

By Karen Brainard

Customers of the Ramona Municipal Water District will have a chance to voice their opinions regarding proposed water and sewer rate increases at the agency’s public hearing at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25.

In May, ratepayers received the district’s Proposition 218 notice with not-to-exceed rates of 7 percent for water and 4.5 percent for sewer.

The hearing, held in conjunction with the board of directors meeting, will be at the Ramona Community Center, 434 Aqua Lane. The board plans on adopting the rates, as well as its budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1.

At a 7 percent water rate hike, along with a 5 percent increase in the monthly water service fee that is based on meter size, RMWD said an average household using 14 units of water every two months would see an increase of $7.74 on its bimonthly bill. A unit is about 748 gallons of water.

With RMWD sewer rates proposed to rise 4.5 percent, customers of San Vicente wastewater plant would see a yearly increase of $26.28 and those served by the Santa Maria plant would pay an additional $31.67.

RMWD General Manager David Barnum said on June 12 that staff was still working on the final aspects of the budget but hopes to come in “pretty substantially less than not-to-exceed 7 percent” for water.

The 7 percent maximum increase was derived from information received by the San Diego County Water Authority (CWA), RMWD’s sole water supplier. However, after the Prop 218 notice was mailed, CWA, which was working on its budget for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, proposed a 3.5 percent “all-in” rate increase for treated water, and 2.6 percent “all-in” increase for untreated water. The “all-in” rate includes water supply, treatment and transportation, along with storage and customer service, and can vary among CWA’s 24 member agencies. Although CWA reported that its proposed budget is up 5.2 percent over the current two-year budget due to higher costs for the purchase and treatment of imported water, the wholesaler said it is able to keep down other expenses through restructuring efforts and as it completes major projects.

RMWD passes through water rate increases from CWA to its customers. The district also adds into its water rate an electrical charge to cover pumping the water up the hill from Poway and factors in proposed rate increases from San Diego Gas & Electric. SDG&E is expected to raise its rates about 12 percent after Sept. 1.