FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Council Votes 9.5% Water Rate Increase

The City Council decided this week to raise water rates 9.5%, which will increase the average water bill for a single-family home by $1.64 a month.

Council members voted 4 to 1 Tuesday night to raise the rate in an effort to offset a growing deficit in the city fund used to maintain the municipal water system. Councilman Guy Carrozzo opposed the increase, which will become effective Jan. 20.

The bill for an average, single-family home for 15,000 gallons of water will increase from $17.30 to $18.94, according to city officials.

Public Works Director Wayne Osborne gave the council four options, ranging from maintaining the status quo to a rate hike of 12.2%, an increase that would end the deficit and create a $1-million reserve in the water fund.

The 9.5% increase approved by the council means that the water fund will continue to lose $9,600 a month and force the city to postpone capital improvement projects such as the development of water wells.

Councilwoman Laurann Cook said the council “didn’t want to impact the citizens of Fountain Valley unnecessarily” by raising the rates any higher.

Increased operating costs and a reduction in revenue caused mostly by water conservation made the rate hike necessary, according to a city report. Operating costs rose by 17.1% during fiscal year 1990-91 while revenues increased only 8%, creating a deficit of $136,000.

City projections showed that without a rate increase, the deficit would increase to $524,430 this fiscal year. The council raised water rates 4.9% in September to offset higher wholesale water and energy costs.

The council also requested that the Orange County League of Cities lobby the Metropolitan Water District to lower wholesale water prices, the costliest item in the city’s water budget. But the MWD has recommended more rate increases beginning July 1.