Rates and Achievements

By Dwight L. "Pat" Howard

My goal is to keep our rates as low as possible within reasonable constraints:

Second, our rates must be sustainable. Any Board can lower rates to dangerous or unsustainable levels. My approach is to look long-term. I believe it is within all of our best interests to take care of the investments you have made in our infrastructure. You have invested, over the decades, tens of millions of dollars in our water and wastewater systems. It is my job, as a Director, to safeguard your investment. Through sound asset management and maintenance programs we can extent the life of water and wastewater components and systems thus minimizing long-term costs.

A third factor is cost containment. Over the last few years we have achieved some major milestones in cost control:
- Bond refinancing at low, fixed rates.
- Fair, yet reasonable employee five-year contracts.
- Chemical cost reductions though a DSRSD-created chemical purchasing consortium of water agencies.
- Energy cost reduction through investments in in-house power generation using wastewater treatment natural gases.
- Modernization of management practices including formal Asset Management.

These past few years have been some of the most challenging in local government history. Cities and school districts have filed for bankruptcy. Water districts have imposed huge rate increases and/or delayed fundamental maintenance. Not at DSRSD. We have weathered the storm fairly well. Though the above-mentioned cost containment methods, the establishment of prudent reserves, and sound management practices, we have maintained a robust infrastructure system with minimal rate adjustments.