El Dorado County, CA | November 2, 1999 Election |
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Exorbitant Sewer Rates the Result of MismanagementBy Al VargasCandidate for Board member; El Dorado Irrigation; Division 5 |
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Present and past EID Boards have neglected their basic functions to provide safe drinking water and sewer service and have consumed themselves with meeting the needs of the special interst. The result is virtually one of the highest sewer rates in the state.Here are some facts about EID rates:
1)EID allowed the Deer Creek plant to deteriorate to the point that it could no longer meet it discharge permit. The deterioration of the plant was documented in a State Water resources Control Board report.
2)The deterioration of the plant resulted in 477 known violations of the discharge permit. The state concluded that there were probably additional violations that went undetected because EID monitoring program was inadequate. Additionally, there were allegations by EID employees that EID was falsifying data and not reporting spills as required.
3)The numerous violations had potential fines of $8.2 million, however the Regional Water Quality Control Board fined EID only $100,000. EID then claimed that the state was out to get them. There was also a settlement to a lawsuit by a sport-fishing group for $400,000.
4)The state ordered EID to restore the plant and meets its discharge requirements. EID claiming an "emergency situation" took out $70 million in revenues bonds without ratepayer approval. Most of this money was used to expand two sewer plants to accommodate growth. How much was spent to rehabilitate the Deer Creek plant is not clear. EID has never provided a complete accounting. Claims of between $6.5 to $10 million have been made.
5)Although they claimed at the time that existing ratepayers would not pay for the expansion, they failed to even assess how much was needed from new development to pay for plant expansions. The short of it is that EID failed to collect sufficiently from new development to pay for the expansion and they dwindled away an $11 million surplus and when the surplus was depleted EID began raising sewer rates. That is why rates have increased 115% in the past three years. Now EID will consider at its next meeting, November 1, to take an additional $15.5 million in bonds, without ratepayer approval, to complete the expansion and build a new headquarters. So expect your rates to increase further. My 5-point program calls for taking any bond measure to the ratepayers for approval and to require development to pay 100% of its costs. My opponents stated in the League of Women Voters debate that they would not take bond measures to the voters. |
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