League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Sacramento County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Measure B Utility Rate Roll Back City of Sacramento Majority Approval Required Fail: 35,674 / 30.99% Yes votes ...... 79,446 / 69.01% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure B

Arguments Against Measure B

Sacramentans have been hit hard by the recession. Our City Council, however, has ignored the plight of residents by raising utility rates by 20% in real terms over the past year. Since 2007, rate hikes have exceeded inflation by 1300%. These regressive hikes hurt low and moderate income Sacramentans the most, especially seniors on fixed incomes. We now have the highest utility rates of any city in our region, hurting our ability to attract employers, create jobs, save struggling businesses and recover from the recession. Measure B will rollback the 9.2% rate hike that hit residents this July and place a check on the Council's unlimited power to raise rates. The Council will be allowed to increase rates to match increases in the consumer price index, preserving the purchasing power of the utilities department's budget. But if the council wishes to raise rates above inflation, it will have to make the case to voters that a major hike is warranted, putting Sacramentans back in charge of city utilities. The city is notorious in the many ways it wastes ratepayer money. It now trucks all city garbage every night over the Sierras to a landfill near Reno, an enormous expense and environmental impact, instead of negotiating a contract with county government to place garbage at the nearby county landfill. The grand jury recently found that managers had illegally diverted $21 million of utilities funds and then tried to cover it up. Incredibly, the Council took no action to remove or discipline those involved and failed to order an independent investigation of the matter. The department lacks external budget discipline and fiscal oversight. Measure B will impose budget discipline by placing city utilities on a "fiscal diet" so that the department once again serves the public, and not the other way around. s/Greg Hatfield, Co-President, South Pocket Homeowners Association s/Craig Powell, Vice-President, Sacramento County Taxpayers League s/Charlene Booth, Retired s/Lisa Garcia, State Employee s/Tram Do, Retired Rebuttal to Arguments For The argument in favor of Measure B is part half truth, part urban myth, plus a generous side order of fuzzy math. Sacramento has the lowest water rates, the second lowest sewer rates, and the oldest infrastructure in the Sacramento region, yet still manages to provide the highest water quality of any large city in California. Drainage rates haven't been raised since 1996. The City hauls its garbage to Nevada because it costs far less than disposal in California + about $1 million per year less for a total of $10 million in savings over the last decade. Rates have gone up because state law now requires water meters for every customer. Yet, from 1996 until last year, the City's utility rate increases have averaged only 3.7% per year. The allegations that the City covered up and took no action in response to the Grand Jury report are false. The hard reality is that the City of Sacramento cannot afford Measure B, and neither can its residents. Drastically rolling back rates won't make the mandate to provide water meters go away. It won't alleviate all the state and federal requirements the City must follow. All it will do is further deplete the City's General Fund and put all other services, including police and fire protection, in grave jeopardy. Measure B carries too high a price tag. Join us in voting no on Measure B. s/Rick Braziel, Chief of Police s/Griselda Barajas, Small Business Owner s/Karen D. McBride, Commissioner, Utilities Rate Advisory Commission s/Ray S. Jones, Fire Chief s/Frank F. Cirill, Senior Citizen/Neighborhood Leader

The City of Sacramento is in danger. In danger from declining revenues in this deep recession. In danger of funding cuts from the State of California. In danger because of Measure B, an ill-conceived plan, hatched in secret with no public input. Sacramento now enjoys the purest drinking water of all large California cities. Measure B will put our water quality at risk -- along with sewer services, garbage pickup, stormwater drainage, and recycling. Infrastructure maintenance and replacement of the City's hundred year old pipes will become impossible. Customer service will suffer significantly. And that's not all. By immediately slashing $22 million from the City's Utilities Budget, Measure B will endanger other vital City services, including public safety. That's because, after the $22 million is taken away, the City still must comply with state and federal standards and mandates and meet its contractual obligations. If there isn't enough money in the Utilities Budget to meet those requirements, there will be no place to turn but the City's already depleted General Fund -- where utilities will have to compete with fire, police, and parks. Public safety has already experienced drastic cuts. We've had brownouts of fire stations; the public counters at police stations have been closed; and the men and women who are responsible for protecting the people of Sacramento have lost many of the resources they once were able to depend upon. Any more cuts and public safety will be seriously jeopardized. Everyone would like a little financial assistance during these troubled times, but the cost of Measure B carries too high a price for all Sacramentans, our communities, our neighborhoods, and our homes. Vote no on Measure B. s/Ray S. Jones, Fire Chief s/Karen D. McBride, Commissioner Utilities Rates Advisory Commission s/Bill Blake, President, Midtown Business Association s/Rick Braziel, Chief of Police s/Frank F. Cirill, Senior Citizen/Neighborhood Leader Rebuttal to Arguments Against Our public safety chiefs, whom we admire, are acting at the behest of the real Measure B opponents: their bosses on the City Council who oppose any limit on their unchecked power to hike utilities rates, a power they have been abusing. The Council hopes to distract voters by falsely claiming that Measure B will imperil public safety funding. It is not true. Measure B has nothing to do with funding for police and fire. Instead, it places our notoriously mismanaged city utilities department on a critically needed "fiscal diet" and gives Sacramento voters a say in future major rate hikes. It will also save the typical Sacramento homeowner $120 in its first year and a projected $4,300 over 10 years, while improving our business climate and attracting new jobs. Measure B stops the Council's current practice of treating residents like a giant ATM machine with unlimited overdraft privileges. It does so by requiring that major rate hikes (above the inflation rate) be approved by voters. City voters have a long, responsible track record of approving appropriate tax hikes (i.e. utilities taxes) and rejecting unwarranted ones (i.e. arena taxes). Sacramento voters are not about to let city utilities fall into an abyss, as the Council would have you believe. Voters will, however, require city government to make the case for major rate hikes, providing crucial, independent oversight. Vote for responsible oversight, vote for jobs, vote "Yes" on Measure B. s/Greg Hatfield, Co-President, South Pocket Homeowners Association s/Craig Powell, Vice-President, Sacramento County Taxpayers League s/Howard Posner, SMUD Director s/Lisa Garcia, State Employee s/Tram Do, Retired