ANAHEIM : Council OKs Flat 6% Hike in Water Rates

A 6% across-the-board hike in water rates will replace a tiered tax that residents denounced as unfair.

Residents had complained to the City Council a number of times in recent weeks that the tiered tax unfairly fined consumers making an effort to save water but whose water use was still high compared to smaller residences or businesses in the city.

Under the new arrangement, the city will collect $1.2 million annually from the higher rate. That money is to pay for the conservation program and any price hikes on water purchased from the Metropolitan Water District.

The new rate schedule, passed by the City Council last week, will go into effect July 1.

“It’s more equitable, and the other one was hurting a lot of people,” said Councilman Irv Pickler. “To me, it’s the way we should have gone from the beginning.”

Pickler introduced the new plan, approved 4 to 1, with Councilman Tom Daly dissenting. Daly said the rate jump would cost taxpayers too much without meeting the city’s costs of running the water conservation program.

The city took a $400,000 loss in imposing an across-the-board increase. Under the tiered-rate system, the city would have earned about $1.6 million annually.

In addition to passing the rate hike, the council requested a new conservation plan that is scheduled to go into effect in September. It would base water savings by a household or business on that user’s previous water record, rather than comparing usage with a city average.