The Region - News from April 16, 1985

A state appeal court ruling forbidding a city to make a profit by charging non-residents higher water fees could affect every local fee in California that is higher for some people than others, a lawyer for the City of Ventura said. “It will be something that every public agency in the state will have to look at every time they want to have different charges,” Assistant City Atty. Michael Dougherty said. “Any time you have a difference in rates, this court is saying, that’s apparently wrong.” Dougherty said the city plans to appeal the decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeal that revived a 12-year-old suit by residents of an area outside the city who were charged higher rates for water service. In 1978, Superior Court Judge Robert Carter upheld the city’s authority to charge out-of-towners a higher fee. But the appeal court, citing “California common law,” ruled that a city cannot charge non-residents higher rates unless they are based on a “true differential in cost of service.”