Letters to the Editor: More transparency over BWP rate increases is in order

Recently, customers of Burbank Water and Power were informed of yet another rate increase, which would be effective on July 1. The language in the flier provided by the city in order to justify the rate increases is composed of boilerplate phrases which lack any transparency.

Who is representing the best interests of the consumers in Burbank? We should be informed of the actual percentage of the rate increases, if any, that would go to pay for salary increases and unfunded pension obligations. Why isn’t the city willing to be truthful about the real reasons for imposing endless rate increases for our utility services?

The city also wants to restart the practice of transferring up to 7% of BWP’s gross annual sales of electricity to the city’s General Fund. That practice was ruled to be illegal in September as a violation of Proposition 26 and is viewed by some as nothing more than a deceptive commingling of funds. Before any new rate increases are in place, the City Council needs to be forthcoming about the actual financial relationship that exists between Burbank Water and Power and the city management.

Thomas Saito

Burbank