Water rates officially go up 12.4%

GLENDALE — Water rates jump 12.4% today for most homeowners and commercial customers in the city — the second in a series of three controversial annual rate increases narrowly approved by the City Council in 2007.

For the average single-family household, base water rates will go from $1.29 to $1.45 per hundred cubic feet, but the unit price for the first 1,000 cubic feet will only go up a penny to 73 cents in a bid to encourage customers to conserve more water, officials said.

Most single-family homes consume about 2,200 cubic feet of water each billing cycle, said Peter Kavounas, assistant general manager for Glendale Water & Power.

In 2010, the rate will increase to $1.57 per hundred cubic feet after the first 1,000, capping off a combined 35% hike over what rates were in 2007.

The City Council approved the rate increases in 2007 on a 3-2 vote after Glendale Water & Power officials said they needed to replenish depleted cash reserves and overhaul an aging infrastructure.

Water officials also warned that, without the revised fee schedule, the utility would be unable to fetch favorable interest rates on a planned $50 million bond issue.

“The cost of everything is going up,” Kavounas said, adding that the city-owned utility was “trying to keep [rate increases] to an absolute minimum.”

Councilmen Frank Quintero and Bob Yousefian voted against the rate increases in 2007 as too steep for a population that hadn’t seen a base water rate adjustment since 2001.

Critics also blasted the rate increases as a de facto tax and unfair financial burden.

“The first choice would have been not to raise them at all,” Quintero said Tuesday.

Rate payers will get a slight respite on the adjustable rate portion of their bills after water officials determined there was enough money to cover the cost of water imports through June.

That charge, which is adjusted administratively twice a year to reflect changing commodity prices, will drop 7 cents to $1.20 per hundred cubic feet.

“We believe we can trim back, and that’s a good thing,” Kavounas said.

The Crescenta Valley Water District Board of Directors is scheduled to consider a 5.1% water rate increase at a Jan. 7 hearing.

If approved, the new rates would affect the next billing cycle, which varies among customers, said Christy Scott, a program manager for the water district.

The board is also scheduled to consider increasing sewer rates, and an ordinance that would require re-sold homes to be outfitted with low-flow devices.

Scott said the requirement would save a “swimming pool-sized” amount of water each day at newly-retrofitted homes.

 JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.