Group Ends Effort to Repeal Utility Rate Hike

City Councilwoman Ann-Marie Villicana said a residents group she leads is ending its effort to place several initiatives on the ballot, including one to repeal an 11% city electricity rate increase, according to city officials.

The residents group, called the Committee for Affordable Government, began collecting signatures earlier this year to put four initiatives on the ballot.

The signature effort began after the City Council approved an electricity rate hike to help pay off debts by 2002, the year the utility market will be open to competition.

The initiatives called for a repeal of the rate hike, amending the City Charter to allow the sale of the city-owned electric utility, the elimination of the $5-million annual transfer from the utility department to city coffers and a 5% annual cut in city expenditures until the utility debt is paid.