Water Board Recommends No Rate Hike
After a comparatively dry 1984, the Metropolitan Water District staff recommended Tuesday against a water rate increase next year, saying that water consumption in the Southland has substantially increased revenues of the big water agency.
The recommendation by General Manager Carl Baronkay was a sign of a change of fortune for the MWD, which supplies water to Ventura, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.
Just two years ago, with water consumption down because of heavy rain, the MWD approved the largest rate increase in its history to make up a deficit estimated at about $30 million. Today, officials said, the MWD has $30 million in reserves, which it aims to increase to $38 million.
For the owner of a $100,000 home, the recommendation would mean that users of MWD water would continue to pay $115 a year in water rates, plus an average of $12 a year in property taxes.
Robert A. Gough, MWD assistant general manager, said that conservative fiscal planning, along with increased consumption of water during the dry months, changed the district’s financial picture.
District directors must vote on the recommendation by March.
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