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Christina Casha <br /> From: <br /> Sent: Thursday, November 2, 2023 1:01 AM <br /> To: Jack Balch; Julie Testa; Jeff Nibert; Karla Brown; Valerie Arkin; Mayor and City Council <br /> Cc: Livermore Independent; Pleasanton Weekly; dborenstein@bayareanewsgroup.com; <br /> Pleasanton City Clerk <br /> Subject: Feedback and Public comment: Nov 7, 2023 - Water Rates increase Agenda Item #16 <br /> Attachments: Pleasanton Water Rates increase Nov 7 2023.pdf <br /> ...[EXTERNAL]This message comes from an external organization.Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links,especially from unknown <br /> senders.*** <br /> Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council <br /> As the extent of the increase has become clear, the online Change.org awareness campaign has garnered over 2200+ <br /> signatories. <br /> They and we are very concerned at the 300-600% increase in our Pleasanton Water rates (as validated by the city <br /> calculator for the average 20-40ccf user). This in effect translate into hundreds to thousands of dollars in increased bills <br /> per year. <br /> We request you to postpone the permanent rate hike vote decision and ask city staff to come up with more measured <br /> proposals and have it structured as a temporary "surcharge". <br /> There are several issues with the current proposal which make it difficult to justify and support. Please see below for some <br /> of the highlights. <br /> I urge you to read the attached pdf. which provides more specifics on the below noted problems. <br /> 1 .Permanent Increases are a bad solution for Temporary Shortfalls (Hello <br /> temporary surcharge!) <br /> • Temporary projects like well design costs, Pump amortization over 5 years, loss <br /> of well revenue are leading to depletion of reserves. Permanent increases are <br /> being implemented for temporary shortfalls and replenishment of reserves <br /> • Any increase should be structured as a temporary "surcharge" <br /> 2.Rate increase is uneven and unfair <br /> • Disproportionally penalizes users currently paying majority of the water bills <br /> (increases vary from 130 % - 770%) <br /> • Make increases fairer across the board <br /> 3.Rate increase is being inconsistently applied <br /> • Fixed Rate is decreasing and is the opposite of goal of a stable revenue <br /> model <br /> i <br />