Governor Brown has foolishly decided to poke a hornets’ nest with his signing of Assembly Bill 401. While AB 401 itself isn’t particularly controversial, as it merely authorizes a couple of state agencies to devise a plan by 2018 to assist low income individuals with paying their water bills, the problem is what Brown wrote in the letter approving the bill.

Although not common, Governors occasionally issue a statement when they approve a bill passed by the Legislature. In signing AB 401, Governor Brown exposed his disdain for the taxpayer and ratepayer protections set forth in Proposition 218, a Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association initiative approved by voters in 1996. Brown stated that, “Proposition 218 . . . serves as an obstacle to thoughtful, sustainable water conservation pricing and necessary flood and stormwater system improvements.”

The Governor could not be more wrong. Proposition 218 mandates that water rates be based on “cost of service” principles. Simply stated, “cost of service” means that you should not pay more for water, sewer or refuse collection than it costs to provide you with that service. The reason voters approved Proposition 218 in the first place is because politicians and bureaucrats had cleverly bypassed the property tax limits of Proposition 13 by imposing a myriad of fees, charges, assessments and other exactions to get money from taxpayers’ wallets.

To read the entire column click here http://www.hjta.org/california-commentary/cost-of-service-principles-protect-ratepayers/

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2015 at 8:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.