SAN CLEMENTE : New Bills Baffle Water Consumers

Mass confusion is how city officials have described the impact of new water bills designed to distribute water costs more evenly throughout the city.

The city has been inundated with telephone calls since the new monthly bills were sent out in July, said City Manager Michael W. Parness. Some residents have complained that their bills have skyrocketed as much as 150%.

To better explain the billing system, a citywide mailer has been prepared and will be sent with the monthly water bills next week, Parness said.

“There have been a significant number of changes and a significant number of problems with the new system,” Parness said. “We had public hearings, but (the new system) is complex, and it’s difficult to understand.”

The new system, which now bills water users monthly instead of bimonthly, was the result of a lengthy city study meant to better distribute the costs of operating the city water system, Greg Morehead, the city’s utility manager, said at a recent council meeting.

The system includes a new, tiered rate structure designed to increase charges to the larger water users and a new monthly billing for storm drain work that used to be billed semiannually, Morehead said.

“It’s complicated because we attempted to make it more fair,” Morehead said.

Adding to the problem is last October’s 20% increase in wholesale water rates charged to the city, which has been passed on to consumers, Morehead said. But no one’s bill should have gone up by 100% or more, he added.

“There are going to be increases to some and some decreases to others, but at no time did I think it would be a 100% increase,” Morehead said. “There should be a 10% to 15% increase for the average consumer.”

Mayor Scott Diehl urged residents to be patient and said all the glitches in the new system will be worked out.

“We don’t have Solomon’s wisdom. We’re doing the best job we can,” Diehl said.