What the city of Milpitas does not want you to know about sewage rates.

What the City of Milpitas does not want you to know about your sewage rates.

Article XIII D of California code requires that the city notify you of the fee basis when the city wants to increase the utility rates. This means the city must calculate the fees for all new utility rate charges.  The city violated the law by not providing this information in the utility notice sent you last year. You probably do not know that Milpitas sewage rates are the highest in Santa Clara County.   Do you know if you're being overcharged for sewer rates? To determine if single residents are overcharged you need to know how the city charges the different parcel owners.  The number of people per household is from a 1975 Santa Clara planning department report and the fee basis is shown below.

 Estimated persons per household (PPH)  times estimated gallons per day times 350 days a year.

Parcel type	PPH	HCF units	year referenced
single family	3.37	106.88	1975 *
single family	3.45	109.42	2010
multifamily	2.05	60.02	1975 *
multifamily	2.75	80.51	2010
Mobile homes	1.9	60.26	2010

* referenced in the 2010 San Jose sewage report.

The 1975 Santa Clara planning department as published the following data for the number people per household (PPH). Single family has 3.37 PPH , multifamily 2.05 PPH and moble homes has 1.90 PPH.

The city uses these averages in the follow way.
1.  Single-family units are estimated at 3.37 persons per household times 65 gallons/day times 365 days a year equals 79,953.25 gallons. This is 106.889 HCF (1 HCF = 748 gallons)
2.  Multi-family units are estimated at 2.05 persons per household times 60 gallons/day times 365 days a year equals 44,895.00 gallons. This is 60.02 HCF.

The census data for 2010 published the following.
Single family units is 3.45 people, multifamily units are not available but the city of Milpitas manipulates this number to get 2.75 for multifamily PPH.
The city has not shown me any reference that that shows the number of gallons of sewage water for single-family units. If you were to use the current number of people per household than the number of people in multifamily units would be 2.75 people and 3.45 in single family units. The reduction in number of people for single family units is 2.312% less, but the reduction in number of multifamily units is 25.45%.  This saves the multifamily units 25.45%  in their fees by using 1975 people per housing unit numbers. This means that instead of 80.51 HCF in sewage water their number would  only be 60.02 HCF.

 Single-family rates are as follows:

Capital cost:                         $91.28 (flow) + $10.15  (BOD) + $8.73 (SS) + $7.42 (NH3) = $117.85.

Variable operating cost:  $161.81 (flow) + $31.13(BOD) + $36.62 (SS) + $41.27(NH3) = $270.83

Capital  cost/HCF:
                        Flow                 BOD                        SS                         NH3   
                 $0.8539/HCF + $0.09495/HCF + $0.081/HCF + $0.06941/HCF =  $1.10 /HCF

Operating cost/HCF
                  $1.588 /HCF  + $.29123/HCF +   $0.34/HCF +   $0.3861/HCF   =   $2.53/HCF

 The total cost per HCF is $1.10 + $2.53 = $3.63/HCF.

 $117.85(capital cost) + $270.83 (variable operating cost) + $67.11 (flat fee) = $455.52 per year.
To get the cost of each component just multiply the 106.889 HCF (single family )  to the numbers that are shown per/HCF. The single family numbers are  calculated above.  As an example  106.89 HCF  x $0.8539 fee/HCF = $91.28 flow for capital cost.

What would be the saving in cost to the multifamily units if they were using 2.05 PPH instead of current number of 2.75 PPH?
2.75 PPH x 365 days x 60 gallons = 60225 gallons/year. Thus 60225 gallons/748 gallons per HCF= 80.514 HCF
2.05 PPH x 365 days x 60 gallons =44895 gallons/year. Thus 44895 gallons/748 gallons per HCF = 60.02 HCF

80.51 HCF x $3.63 fee/HCF = $292.34 yearly fee.
60.02 HCF x $3.63 fee/HCF = $217.93 yearly fee.
 Multifamily  savings would be $292.34 - $217.93 = $74.41 per year.
There are 6394 multifamily family units saving $74.41 for a total of $476,024.58. Where do you think the city is going to collect the money that the multifamily units are saving? This cost will be absorbed by the single family unit to make up the loss from the multifamily units. That  is why your paying $38.00  more for you service and that why your fee is increased by 7%.

The point is that the fee you pay is based on the number of gallons they think your using and the number of people per household. If there are less than 3.37 people living in a single-family unit then sorry, you're screwed. You still have to pay the flat rate as if there are 3.37 people living in your parcel and you're using 65 gallons a day every day of the year. If there is the same number of people living in different family households, why should the single-family unit pay more? Sorry but your screwed.
 
You’re paying $149.16 more today then multifamily units, and your fee can increase by 7% every year.  By the year 2014-2015 you could be paying $245.00 more for the exact same service that multifamily units will pay. This means you're been overcharged for the same service delivered to your parcel then a multifamily parcel which is another violation of the law Article XII ID section 6 that deals with utility rates.
If you conserve water with low flow toilets or shower heads and you're not using 65 gallons a day, you're punished because you live in a single-family unit. Sorry again.
Why business are charged on a fee per HCF and residential units are a flat rate not based on the flow they are actually using is because the city says, get this, "residential consumption can have a large variable outdoor use component for irrigation, swimming pools, etc." Single-family customers do not have separate irrigation meters so their outdoor use could not be accurately estimated. Really is this true? Some businesses have large irrigation problems too and they do not have a separate irrigation meter. Look at Cisco or LSI Logic and look at the water they use for irrigation every day. All business units are charged a fee per HCF regardless if there is an irrigation problem or not.
 I asked City Manager Tom Williams how many residential parcel units have large irrigation usage problems and the city answer is that they do not take any data on this. This means the city cannot back up their own assumption; to say "the city cannot get an accurate sewer charges based on irrigation" is an excuse to not charge a fee per HCF. If the city did charge a fee per HCF then it would not matter how many people live in a housing unit or the gallons used, and the charge would be accurate. The city measures your water consumption.
 You get a water bill every other month showing you how much water is delivered to your parcel. By charging based on averages you're billed for sewage many times more than the water actually going into your parcel. The sewage flow out of your parcel cannot be higher than water total water entering the parcel. The city does not care about this.
 Article XIII D does not recognize business, single, multi-family or mobile homes; every thing is a just a "parcel". The city cleverly changes the definition of a parcel to various labels just as an excuse to charge parcels at different rates.
What does Article XIII D section 6 relating to utility rate actually say? (3) The amount of a fee or charge imposed upon any parcel or person as an incident of property ownership shall not exceed the proportional cost of the service attributable to the parcel.  What does proportional cost mean? As an example let's use your PG&E bill. PG&E charges you a fee per 1,000 watt hours for electricity. If you're a large user of electricity then you get charged more. If there are four people using a lot of electricity for computers, televisions, kitchens stoves, etc., you pay more than if only one or two person lives in housing unit. Basically you're changed for what you actually use, i.e., proportional to what you are actually using. The word is proportional cost, not average charge based on what the city thinks lives in a housing unit. Notice that the wording says "any parcel"; that means even if there is just one household they're overcharging then they're violating the law. The city has more than 5,000 single-family parcels that they are overcharging, because there are less then 3.27 people living in them.
 Below shows the number of people living in Milpitas housing units. There are more than 1,200 units that have only one or two people living in single-family units. This is under the 3.37 people that the city says are in a single-family unit and they are overcharged for the service attributed to the parcel.  Another problem is the difference in fees for single and multiple families' increases in the future for years 2012-2014.
 Expected fiscal year proposed maximum rates for single-family jump from $70.94 in 2011-12 to $93 in 2014-15. Multi-family jumps from $50.68 in 2011-12 to $52.22 in 2014-15. Mobile home users jump from $31.18 in 2011-12 to $40.87 in 2014-15.
 The single-family rate just increased from $70.94 to $75.92, an increase of 7.02% , but multi-family rates increased from $50.68 to $51.06, an increase of only .75% .  Just four months ago the difference in yearly fees from single and multifamily units was $121.56. Today single-family units are paying $149.16 more. In the year 2014, single-family units will pay $244 more than multi-family. Why is this?
Their answer is, "In a relative comparison, the multi-family rates do not climb as steeply, because the estimated multi-family size was reduced relativity more than the estimated single-family size the difference is averaged over four-year period of the increase." The city know that this is not true, but this is what they told me. The city has not provided any documentation to prove this assumption. What this means is that they're changing the number of people arbitrarily.

There are thousands of parcels that have less than the average number people living in them and the average number of gallons used is less than what the city uses for water used per day. The residents that have less than the average people in them are being overcharged for services a violation of Article XIII D, and the people who have more than the average are being undercharged. Your city council members do not care about this either. The city has the number for the number of people per household that is more resent data from various sources. The census is from the year 2010. This report shows that the number of people per household is 3.45 for single family units. The city own calculation for multifamily units is 2.75 but the city does not want to use this data. This means multifamily unit are undercharged by 33%, so single family units must make up the difference in fees.

Milpitas will not disclose the water fixed fee basis

Milpitas will not disclose how the "water fixed rate" fee is calculated and did not disclose the basis for the calculated fees  for any of the utility fees in the notice sent to the parcel owners.

The city of Milpitas will not disclose the basis for the calculated fees for the "water fixed rate fee". This fee went up 15% on one year. When asked in a letter to the city manager Tom Williams, the city response was the following:
Q. What are the charges that when summed up arrive at the water fixed rate fee?
A. "I cannot answer this question because my staff did not perform this calculation you describe."
In another letter to the city asking the same basic question the city response was the following:

 A. "I understand that you believe that the city should have done an independent cost breakdown to develop a new meter charge. The city is not required to do so."

Comment:
In order to increase a utility rate, fee Article XIII D require that you must first calculate the fee and then you must disclose that fee in the notice sent to the public. The city did not calculate the fee and did not disclose how the fee is calculated in the notice sent to the parcel owners.

Article XIII D section 6 part (1) states:
(1) The parcels upon which a fee or charge is proposed for imposition shall be identified. The amount of the fee or charge proposed to be imposed upon each parcel shall be calculated. The agency shall provide written notice by mail of the proposed fee or charge to the record owner of each identified parcel upon which the fee or charge is proposed for imposition, the amount of the fee or charge proposed to be imposed upon each, the basis upon which the amount of the proposed fee or charge was calculated, the reason for the fee or charge, together with the date, time, and location of a public hearing on the proposed fee or charge. This means that the city must disclose how this fee and all other fees are calculated.

If the city increases a tax on the parcel owners, it must first calculate the new tax and then provide in the notice sent to the parcel owners the basis for the increased tax. In the notice sent to the public in 2011 on utility rates, the city did not disclose how any of the utility rate fees was calculated.  Why are we even paying these city employees a salary?  The higher you pay the city employees the worst service you get.

Milpitas city growing in the right way?

At the last city council meeting Nov 15, the city approved over 200 more housing units to be built. The Mayor says that were growing in the right way. Is that really true?

How is loosing your right to vote on taxes (utilities)  “growing the right way”. I think that called communism where you loose your right to vote. The more residents that own property the harder it is to defeat a utility tax increase. Now we have about 19,000 parcel owners. To defeat a tax increase you need over half of the parcel residents to submit a protest letter and not one person has to vote for a tax increase. Milpitas has the highest sewer rates then any other city in Santa Clara county. Our solders are fighting over seas for the right to vote. Maybe they should come to our city and fight for democracy here instead of fighting over seas. It would cost the taxpayers of the USA a lot less money.

How is increasing the sewage taxes every year on your property progress? Why is it going up every year, it is because of the high demand on sewage infrastructure going up every year. The new sewage plant is costing $2 billion.

How is increasing the demand for water growing the right way? I thought we had a water shortage and we should conserve water usage through low flow toilets and shower heads etc. Oh wait, I guess that does not matter as long as the city can increase the number residents consuming water resources and the council members can get their kickback money from land developers. Let’s just add more residents so that in the future we will be recycling our own toilet water and paying double your current sewage rates. I guess that what the mayor and council members think is progress.
And of course let’s add more parks. If there is anything the city needs it  more parks. The city only has 34 parks, and I guess that is just not enough. Why you may ask, because the  more parks we have the more water the city can use, but please conserve water so the city can give it to the new residents and create more parks. How that for growing the right way?

Polanski is thrilled about if her utility rates rise $6.00 a day

I am so happy that Althea Polanski is thrilled about if her utility bill would cost her $6 a day or $2190 a year. Would the people that voted for her be thrilled about paying $2,190 a year for utility rates? She supposed to be interested in the citizens that put her in office, not what she likes.

 There were over 520 people that disagree with her and the other four council members.  That is a ratio of 100 to 1 against the tax increase, that we know of.  If the city sent out a ballot to alert the public to send in the ballot to appose the tax increase, then there would have been 8500 people against it. Polanski and the other council members refused to include a ballot with the city notice on increasing utility rates. They do not want the public input on tax matters.

I asked the council to include a ballot but they refused. I even asked about sending a ballot at the senior commission, the community advisory commission and the telecommunications commissions about putting in a ballot.  Every time I got a no answer or ignored. Who are these council members working for?

The game was fixed from the start. If a single family parcel cost is higher companies or multifamily rates then the city is in violation of proposition 218 in section (6) b 3. I showed the city that the multifamily had the same number of people as single-family rates. The data I got was from the city own records on housing development and planning.

They take the part of prop 218 they like, the part that marginalizes the people right to vote and forget about the rest. That is illegal. Proposition 218 section 6 comes with the complete language take it or leave it. The charts in the tax increase notice sent out to the parcel owners shows that Milpitas sewer charges are the highest in Santa Clara County. The council members do not want to be confused with the facts. They only care about passing the utility tax. Our city council is for tax and spending. In the next city election in 2012 let’s get ride of two of them.

Last week to protest.

Last week to write in a protest letter to keep your sewer rates from increasing. If you are a Milpitas resident and you not happy that the sewer rates are going from $426 to $558 in three years, then you better get in your written protest letter before May 3 at 5 pm.  Milpitas has the highest sewer rates then any other city in Santa Clara county. This is a very regressive tax on the residents of Milpitas. I have head that some people can barely afford the utility rates as they are today.

See the March blog called Vote form to get a form letter and send it in before May 3 or mail it in before May 1. Time is running out.

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Kathleen Phalen, city engineer on sewer rates.

Kathleen Phalen is the person to contact for any question concerning water and sewer rates.
Phone her at 408 586-3345 or email her at kphalen@ci.milpitas.ca.gov to get the new sewer rate info go to ci.milpitas.ca.gov go to happening now. Meeting about sewer rates on April 21 6:30 at the senior center at 40 North Milpitas Blvd.

Here are a few questions to ask.

1. Why are Milpitas sewer rates the highest in Santa Clara county.
2. Why are multifamily family sewer rates lower.
3. What is considered a Multifamily resident? Are condominiums single or multifamily residents ?
4. Why does it take 8500 protests votes to stop a rate increase when not one person is in favor of the rate increase.
5. Why are single family rates are going to increase from $426 to $558 a year and multifamily rates increase only from $304 to $313 a year.  

Pay to play

Have you ever wondered why a resident of Milpitas has only 3 minutes give a talk before the city council meetings and companies have all the time they want? The reason is they pay for the privilege by contributing to the council members in campaign contributions. Most residents don't pay for campaign contributions they just pay the council members their salaries. Do you think the council members care about the people who are paying their salaries? Of course not. When there is a hot topic and more then 30 citizens what to speak, well then their time to speak is cut down to maybe one and a half minutes. So Milpitas residents are really second class citizens. The city council member get paid about $180.00 an hour for about 100 hours of work a year. If they had to work another hour then there pay would be only $178.22 an hour and of course they would get home an hour later maybe. The council members will tell you that they are doing you a favor by reducing the time you speak on an issue. The way they present it is by saying something like this  

"In order to hear everyone who wants to talk city council  members will reduce your time to speak"

They will quickly vote on the motion to reduce your time to speak and it is quickly approved by the majority of council member. Armando Gomez will introduce the motion and Debbie Giordano will second the motion( in less then a second) then other members Althea Polanski and Pete McHugh will approve it. If they had their way they would not want to hear what you have to say at all, just pay their salary and benefits and please be quiet and go away after 3 minutes or less.