ANAHEIM : City Exempt From Utility Revenue Bill

City officials expressed relief Thursday after a bill passed by the state Assembly prohibiting cities from transferring money from their water and power departments was amended to exempt cities such as Anaheim, which already have voter approval to do so.

Assembly Bill 318, sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), passed the lower house by a vote of 44 to 12 and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Katz said he drafted the bill because he thinks the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is overcharging customers by making them pay a surcharge that goes into the city’s general fund.

Katz said the bill gives cities the option of either stopping the practice of transferring the funds or taking the issue to the voters for approval.

“If a city has had an election and voters have said it’s OK, they should be able to use the money,” Katz said Thursday. “And Anaheim has had such an election.”

In 1976, Anaheim voters amended the City Charter to allow the transfer of as much as 4% of utilities revenue into the general fund.

City officials said that, of this year’s $132.6-million general fund, $11.4 million is from utilities revenue. That latter amount is equivalent to what Anaheim would spend for 142 police officers, said Kristine Thalman, the city’s intergovernmental officer.

Anaheim officials had threatened an aggressive legal fight if the bill, as originally drafted became law.

“This kind of bill sets a bad precedent,” Thalman said Thursday. “We will be keeping real close tabs on it.”