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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions 2011-074 N.C.S. 05/16/2011Resolution No. 2011 -074 N.C.S. of the City of Petaluma, California APPROVING A LETTER OF OPPOSITION FOR SENATE BILL 34 (SIMITIAN) WHICH ADDS A STATE WATER RESOURCES ASSESSMENT FEE TO WATER DELIVERED TO CITE' CUSTOMERS WHEREAS, the City of Petaluma conducts operation and maintenance activities to ensure the function of the community's water distribution system; and, WHEREAS, Senator Joe Simitian has proposed Senate Bill 34 ( "SB 34 "), which would adopt the California Water Resources Investment Act of 2011; and, WHEREAS, SB 34 would impose substantial fees as an annual assessment on local water providers to fund statewide and regional water projects with no guarantee that the funded projects would directly benefit City water consumers other than as members of the general public; and, WHEREAS, the pending legislation does not quantify the fee, but the potential fiscal impacts of this pending legislation could include a possible annual water resources assessment fee to the City's water delivery system in excess of $800,000; and, WHEREAS, the City's operation of its potable water system has been modified to comply with the Water Supply Act of 2010, implementing and exceeding the Best Management Practices presented by the California Urban Water Conservation Council; and, WHEREAS, addition of the proposed annual water resources assessment by the State of California would cause adverse fiscal impacts to the operation and maintenance of the City of Petaluma's potable water services and could fiscally impact the water ratepayers with a significant rate increase. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Petaluma City Council strongly opposes Senate Bill 34 ( Simitian) for the reasons stated in the recitals above and directs the Mayor to send the attached letter of opposition to California Senator Joe Simitian. Under the power and authority conferred upon this Council by the Charter of said City. REFERENCE: I hereby certify the foregoing Resolution was introduced and adopted by the /Ad ved as to Council of the City of Petaluma at a Regular meeting on the 16` day of May, 2011, ( orm: by the following vote: AYES: Albertson, Barrett, Mayor Glass, Harris, Vice Mayor Healy, Kearney, Renee NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN ATTEST City Resolution No. 2011 -074 N.C.S. Page 1 May 17, 201 1 The Honorable Joe Simitian California State Senate State Capitol, Room 2080 Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: SB 34 California Water Resources Investment Act of 2011 Dear Senator Simitian: Attached please find Resolution 2011-074 N.C.S., adopted unanimously by the City of Petaluma City Council, to respectfully voice our opposition to the SB 34 legislation. The proposed legislation will add substantial cost to the water delivery system for our community, which we will have no choice but to pass on directly to our customers, the ratepayers. The April version of the bill, obtained from your website, includes a blank where the fee is identified. This uncertainty of impact to our ratepayers precludes our ability to evaluate the bill's impact on the City of Petaluma water enterprise and our ratepayers' monthly bills. An earlier version of the bill identified the anticipated cost at $110 /acre foot. This fee would result in a burden to the City of Petaluma of approximately $810,000 and translate to an 8% increase to our typical residential units. The bill does not provide any reduction for urban water providers who have implemented the California Urban Water Conservation Council Best Management Practices. The City of Petaluma has consistently implemented and exceeded water conservation BMPs, investing in excess of $500,000 per year in our conservation programs. SB 34 at §87010.(c) states "Funding of public benefits should be guided by the beneficiary pays principle... ", a statement we can support. The City of Petaluma already pays for many services that provide local public benefit, including services of the California Department of Public Health, and annual fees to the State Water Resources Control Board, satisfying the public benefit reference included as §87010.(b) (2) (C). Additionally, we annually report Public Water System Statistics to the Department of Water Resources, which would now be duplicated pursuant to SB 34 at §87067.(a). The Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) and the retail water contractors, including the City, have planned and funded regional programs to enhance local water supply, recycled water, and expansive water conservation programs. In addition, in the past year SCWA and the retail water contractors formed the Sonoma Marin Saving Water Partnership to further these efforts and to ensure compliance to SBx7 -7, which requires a 20% reduction in per capita water use by the year 2020. This reduction in per capita water use will result in a direct reduction in water sales revenue to fund the water enterprise operation and maintenance activities of the City. The City of Petaluma is committed to reaching these reductions in per capita water use and still operate and maintain a system to ensure continuous provision of utility services to our community. The State legislature has already pressed costly mandatory measures on the City of Petaluma and other water contractors with the Water Supply Act of 2010. To continue adding mandatory fees or measures while we are still struggling to absorb or pass on the costs associated with last year's measures, seems punitive; especially to agencies who have already reduced their operating income through reduction of water use by our consumers. We respectfully request that you work with us to solve the regional and state -wide water supply issues rather than merely assess more fees. Resolution No. 201 1 -074 N.C.S. Page 2 The Honorable Joe Simitian California State Senate May 17, 2011 Re: SB 34 California Water Resources Investment Act of 2011 Page 2 Sincerely, David Glass Mayor C: Senator Mark Leno Assembly Member Jared Huffman Senator Lois Wolk Senator Robert Huff Senator Mark Desaulnier Senator Jean Fuller Senator Loni Hancock Senator Ed Hernandez Senator Christine Kehoe Senator Doug La Malta Senator Carol Liu Peter Detwiler, Senate Governance and Finance Committee Cindy Tuck, ACWA Legislative Director Pamela Tuft, Interim Director, Petaluma Dept. of Water Resources and Conservation Grant Davis, General Manager, Sonoma County Water Agency Paul Helliker, General Manager, Marin Municipal Water District Krishna Kumar, General Manager, Valley of the Moon Water District Miles Ferris, Utilities Director, City of Santa Rosa Richard Burtt, Public Works Director, Town of Windsor Milenka Bates, Public Works Director, City of Sonoma Darrin Jenkins, City Engineer, City of Rohnert Park Damien O'Bid, Public Works Director, City of Cotati Tito Sasaki, North Bay Agricultural Alliance Jennifer Persike, ACWA Editor, Press Democrat Editor, Argus- Courier Resolution No. 2011 -074 N.C.S. 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