Your subsidizing irrigation water that benefits the city and others but not you. The city of Milpitas uses potable water for irrigation purposes. The city uses 80,000 HCF units and others is 285,000 HCF units. In the water fee increase the city passed in December, the city will issue a $25.5 million 4.25% interest, 30 year bond. $10,000 of the bond is for irrigation purposes. This means the city will drill three wells at a cost of $3.35 million each on average and charge you for it. The problem is your paying for a service (irrigation water) that you will not receive. By state law, proposition 218, the city can not charge for a service that you do not receive, but the city is doing it anyway. The question is what would the city and others pay if they had to cover there cost $10 million for the new wells if paid over 30 years. The total amount of irrigation water is 285,000 + 80,000 = 365.000 HCF units of water.
Annual bond payment $595,982 / 365,000 HCF = $1.62 /HCF. The city does not want to pay $4.38 for irrigation water so it charges you for it in the Capital Improvement Plan. Your not going to believe this but it true, in the notice to the public the city wants to lower the current recycled water fee to $2.78 from $4.08 for irrigation water from the wells that cost $10 million dollars. Your picking up the tab with your portable water fee of $6.43. If the city just left the current $4.08 irrigation fee the city is charging for the service now the city would not need to charge all the residents $10 million for the new wells and would reduce our potable water fee. Over 30 years the current irrigation free of $4.08/HCF + $0.30 can pay for the wells themselves. The city and companies would save on the usage of potable water, and it would be would be a win for everyone.
There is now a petition to charge the residents $3.35 for potable water for the first tier. I hope you sign it. Contact marini4mayor@yahoo.com
| The cost of Irrigation water | |||||
| bond payment | city irrigation | other irrigation | total irrigation | cost /HCF | |
| $595,982.00 | 80,000 + | 285,000 = | 365,000 | $1.63 | |
| current fee $2.75/HCF + | well cost $1.63/HCF = | total cost $4.38 |
|||
Table 5 |
|||||
| City of Milpitas - Water Rate Study | |||||
| FY 2015/16 Est. Water Use by Customer Class1 | |||||
| User Breakdown of Water Sales | Est. Potable Sold | % of Potable Use | SFPUC Water | SCVWD Water | |
| Residential | 1,591,000 | 54% | 1,121,655 | 469,345 | |
| Commercial | 434,000 | 15% | 305,970 | 128,030 | |
| Industrial | 476,649 | 16% | 336,037 | 140,611 | |
| Institutional | 90,000 | 3% | 63,450 | 26,550 | |
| Irrigation | 285,000 | 10% | 200,925 | 84,075 | |
| Ed Levin Park | 2,610 | 0% | 1,840 | 770 | |
| CITY Domestic | 10,000 | 0% | 7,050 | 2,950 | |
| CITY Irrigation | 80,000 | 3% | 56,400 | 23,600 | |
| 2,969,259 | 100% | 2,093,327 | 875,931 | ||
* Note: If the city wants to pay for a 30 year 4.25% bond the annual payment would be $595.982 so
$595,982/365,000 HCF = $1.63/HCF. The current cost of irrigation water is $2.78. Adding the cost of the bond would make the total bill at $2.78 + $1.60 = $4.38.
