How you can stop Sacramento from raising your water rates and property taxes

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By Susan Shelley | Los Angeles Daily News
Published August 29, 2018 at 11:26 am

On Thursday, August 30, at 8:00 a.m., an obscure committee in Sacramento will hold an informational hearing that will commit you, your children and your grandchildren to paying higher rates and higher property taxes to cover the cost of the proposed boondoggle known as WaterFix.

Under state law, the Department of Water Resources can finalize a long-term contract for water from the State Water Project through a unique process that doesn’t require a vote of the Legislature or any legislative committee. The DWR simply sends over a copy of the contract, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee holds an informational hearing, and 60 days later, the contract can be finalized.

In this case, the DWR wants to extend contracts for water from the State Water Project all the way to the year 2085.

Why? Because a massive capital investment is needed to pay for the WaterFix twin-tunnel project, estimated to cost $17 billion. The money will be borrowed from Wall Street investors by selling long-term bonds, and the state’s contract for supplying water has to be extended far enough into the future so that the rates paid by water customers can be promised as security. The higher the level of borrowing, the longer the contract has to run to make the math work.

Unless that hearing on Thursday is postponed, the 2085 contract extension will be finalized before Gov. Jerry Brown leaves office, committing the next governor and the next three generations of Californians to pay the debt.  Read More

Can this be stopped?

  • Call Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon at 916-319-2063.
  • Call Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins at 916-651-4039.
  • Call Committee Chair Holly Mitchell at 916-651-4030.

Tell them the extension of the State Water Project contracts to finance WaterFix must wait until the next governor takes office, or at least until the contracts are completely written. Urge them to call off the Thursday morning hearing of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

You can find the names and contact information for your own state representatives at
findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov. Call them, too.

Susan Shelley is a columnist for the Southern California News Group.
Susan@SusanShelley.com. Twitter: @Susan_Shelley