California Governor Gavin Newsom and state legislators are fast-tracking three new bills that strip away your rights and will cost you more money.
One is Assembly Bill 2257, authored by Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City. AB 2257 would make it impossible to sue over illegal water rates, no matter how excessive or wrongly calculated. Wilson’s bill accomplishes this by requiring ratepayers to lodge their specific legal objections to the rates during the 45-day period before the public hearing.
But nothing requires the agencies to make public the detailed reports that support the rate calculations until the 45 days has passed and the hearing begins. This leaves the door wide open for excessive, illegal rate hikes. You may get a crazy-high water bill that does not reflect the cost of providing the service or the proportional benefit to your property, as the law requires. Too bad, says Wilson’s bill. The door to the courthouse is already slammed shut.
Then there’s Assembly Bill 1827, by Diane Papan, D-San Mateo. AB 1827 would allow water agencies to jack up rates based on fictitious metrics. Instead of basing rates on the cost of providing the service, water providers could add factors such as “projected peak water usage” and “maximum potential water use” of parcels. They wouldn’t be required to measure this or prove it.
The third attack on your Prop. 218 rights is Senate Bill 1072, by Steve Padilla, D-Chula Vista. SB 1072 says water agencies that get caught overcharging their customers don’t have to provide refunds. Instead, they would be allowed to issue credits on future water bills. This is unfair to people who have moved or closed their businesses by the time the illegal rates are discovered. It also reduces the opportunity for a class action lawsuit on behalf of all the cheated ratepayers, because without refunds, it’s hard for attorneys to get paid for their work.
Read the full article by Susan Shelley here.
