Water rates trend upward





Water and sewer rates will continue their upward trend for customers in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.

LVMWD officials approved a $76.2-million budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

The new budget provides funding for LVMWD’s potable water, sanitation, wastewater treatment and recycled water distribution, officials said.

A three-year rate schedule adopted in 2012 is entering its final year of planned increases.

“( Some customers) were paying less than it costs for the district to provide the water, so this year we will be catching up,” district spokesperson Jeff Reinhardt said.

Potable water rates will go up on Jan. 1, 2015, with an additional 8 cents per billing unit, reflecting cost increases from LVMWD’s wholesale supplier, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

One billing unit equals 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons.

Under the tiered use plan, the projected tier 1 cost per billing unit would rise from $2.19 to $2.31; tier 2 from $2.60 to $2.80; tier 3 from $3.56 to $3.81; and tier 4 from $5.02 to $5.34.

The new budget includes operating expenses of $50.4 million. The largest single expense is for wholesale potable water purchases—$25.5 million.

Capital improvement costs are estimated at $23 million. Some of the work will be funded through an account that was set aside to maintain and improve infrastructure.

Work continues on the potable water infrastructure, which includes a 5-million-gallon tank under construction at Las Virgenes Reservoir in Westlake Village, the refurbishment of a water tank in Calabasas, and continued installation of automated meters throughout the district.

In the recycled water and wastewater treatment enterprises, priority projects include extension of recycled water mains, rehabilitation work at the Tapia Water Reclamation and Rancho Las Virgenes Composting facilities, and the lining of a reservoir.

Earlier this month, a Joint Powers Authority consisting of LVMWD and Triunfo Sanitation District approved a $22.6-million budget to pay for wastewater operations at the Tapia sewer plant.

Effective July 1, sanitation rates will increase from a current maximum of $108.56 every two months for a single-family home to $110.74. The sanitation rates for multifamily dwellings will go from $68.59 to $69.97.

Future wastewater treatment costs for the Tapia facility may rise in order to comply with new water quality standards adopted for Malibu Creek by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board, LVMWD General Manager David Pedersen said. The new standards are being challenged in federal court.

Salaries and benefits

The district has 117 positions with four vacancies. There are four bargaining units and a handful of non-union employees, including a human resources manager and the general manager.

The Service Employees International Union represents the two largest groups, covering 81 employees through an existing agreement. Negotiations with SEIU are expected later this year.

Recently, LVMWD negotiated changes in which some employees pay a share of their retirement contribution in exchange for a salary increase. Nonunion employees now pay a 7 percent pension contribution inexchangefora6to7percent raise, depending on the bargaining unit, Reinhardt said.

Additionally, the district’s maximum contribution to healthcare was reduced by about $300 per employee per month.

“ The goal of having employees’ contributions reflected in their salaries was to allow for greater transparency of true compensation and in support of pension reform,” Reinhardt said.

In a related action, the water district board authorized a prepayment of $1.7 million for the annual required contribution to the CalPERS employee retirement system. The early payment results in a savings of about $63,000, Pedersen said.

Boardmember Barry Steinhardt worried about salaries on the rise at the water district.

Steinhardt also said the district is spending too much money on superfluous capital improvements.

In addition to building a large tank in the Westlake Village Three Springs Neighborhood, another 8.5 million gallons of potable water storage is being proposed for an undetermined location.

“These are solutions to problems that don’t exist,” Steinhardt said.



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