OJAI : Water Firm Told to Justify Rate Hike
Ojai officials are alarmed by a stiff water rate hike Southern California Water Co. is proposing for its 2,600 customers in the city.
The company wants to increase residential and commercial rates by 19% and 24% next year and a total of 35.5% by 1993. If approved, the average monthly residential bill would jump by $6.15 in 1991.
The California Public Utilities Commission will hold an informal public meeting on the request at 7 p.m. Monday in the Ojai Unified School District Auditorium.
The City Council voted Tuesday to authorize City Manager Andy Belknap to attend the meeting after Belknap said the city had not received notice of the proposed hike in time to place the matter on the council’s agenda.
“This is a very substantial rate increase,” Belknap said. The last time he looked at the company’s water rates was several years ago, he said, and they were the highest in the county then.
The council directed Belknap to ask that company officials justify the extent of the current request and compare the company’s water rates with other agencies in the county.
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