UPDATE: Sanitary District Considers Rate Changes

UPDATE: The RVSD Board meeting for March 8 has been postponed a week in order for the consultants to finish their report on the rate changes. The meeting will now be held on either March 14 or 15.

Despite concern mounting over the Ross Valley Sanitary District seeking a rate increase just , district staff says there is no proposed rate increase on the table and decisions about any rate changes will be made at the March 8 board meeting.

“The process has not even remotely begun,” said RVSD General Manager Brett Richards.

There are two rate-related issues RVSD is considering.

As the Marin Independent Journal also explained, the first of these issues is the possibility that the district may move from a flat fee rate to a rate based on the amount of water a resident uses. In that proposal, which has been a topic of consideration for nearly a year, half of a resident’s fee would be a flat base rate and half would be based on the amount of water used.

Currently, all residents, those that live in small condos and those that live in giant estates, pay the same. Under a flow-based system, multi-family and apartment units would likely pay less, while single-family homes would likely pay more.

According to the IJ:

Using this analysis, board member Frank Egger said that about 67 percent of the homeowners in Larkspur and 61 percent of the homeowners in the rest of the district would see their bills increase under the alternative system.

Board member Peter Sullivan said, "What is going to be difficult to explain to people is that restaurants that have been paying higher bills for a long time would pay less under this system."

The second issue being discussed is whether or not a rate increase, in addition to changing the rate structure, should also be considered.

Richards is adamant that that decision has not yet been made and will not be made until the consultant, Hilton Farnkopf & Hobson, comes back with the $20,000 rate study on March 8.

“There is no proposed rate increase. Will there be? Maybe,” said Richards.

RVSD Board Member Frank Egger said that the meeting on March 8 will show both flat-rate and flow-based rates and lay out possible rate increases for the next five years.

If the board votes to move forward with either the flow-based rate structure or with the rate increase or with both, then a Prop. 218 hearing would be initiated. A Prop. 218 hearing requires the district to send notice out to all residents and allow a 45-day protest period, before holding a public hearing.

The question that sparked controversy at the Feb. 15 special RVSD meeting is whether or not the district can do one Prop. 218 notice for both the change in rate structure and the possible rate increase, or if it will have to do two hearings and notices.

Though the board has not yet voted on moving forward with a possible rate increase and initiating a Prop. 218 hearing, district staff continues to emphasize the need for money to repair aging pipes.

At last night’s meeting, Feb. 22, the board considered 11 new emergency repairs to be made. In the past few months, .

The locations for repairs considered last night:

• 9-65 Millard Rd., Larkspur
• 2-10 N. Ridgewood Rd., Kentfield
• 2-27 Rock Rd., Kentfield
• 1-11 Inman Ave., Kentfield
• 130-171 Crescent Rd., Kentfield
• 34-64 Cordone Dr., San Anselmo
• 51-76 Tamalpais Ave., San Anselmo
• 1601-1625 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax
• 212-224 Frustuck, Fairfax
• 79-105 Rocca Dr., Fairfax
• 332-235 Cascade Dr., Fairfax

“The tenor of the meeting last night was we need more money and we need more money by October,” said Mary Sylla, a candidate challenging for a spot on the RVSD Board in the June election.

The consultant report, to be presented on March 8, will look at all the budgetary and infrastructure needs and weigh those against the current $15 million budget and make a recommendation on whether or not a rate increase is needed. (That increase would be in addition to what rates would look like under a new flow-based system.)

Last July, . Rates for properties in the district’s areas in Greenbrae, Kentfield, Ross, San Anselmo and Fairfax will rose from $520 to $638 per year (a 22.7 percent increase), while rates for Larkspur properties will go up from $592 to $864 per year (45.9 percent). Larkspur’s higher rates stem from the fact that the city does not contribute a share of its property tax revenues to the RVSD.

That increase over RVSD’s spending and if the increase was appropriate. Over 30 percent of ratepayers filed Prop. 218 protests. Under a Prop. 218 hearing a majority of ratepayers must file a protest to stop a rate increase from moving forward.

Sylla said it would be unwise to increase rates for residents without reviewing all the expenses of the district first. She pointed out that the district also just approved a $125,000 study of consolidation, which will likely have a “predetermined outcome” saying consolidation isn’t recommended, and is entering arbitration with the Central Marin Sanitation Agency as CMSA attempts to takeover the San Quentin contract.

Since RVSD is a part of CMSA, about half of ratepayers fees go directly to CMSA, meaning that ratepayers are paying for the lawyers on both sides, said Sylla.

“I don’t think now’s a good time to raise rates,” she said.

The RVSD Board will meet March 8 at the community room at the Twin Cities Police Department around 5:30 p.m. Check the district's website for an exact time as the meeting nears.

What do you think the district should do?