What Are We Doing?

Yorba Linda residents protest soaring water bill rates (October 14, 2015)

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (KABC) — Members of the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association hauled boxes of petitions into the Yorba Linda Water District early Wednesday in Placentia, protesting skyrocketing water bills.

Over the past 19 days, the group gathered signatures from 5,541 residents for a referendum petition to try to get recent water rate hikes rescinded or the issue placed on the ballot for voters to decide.

The board approved higher water rates last month through Proposition 218 - water bills going up an average of $25 a month as of Oct. 1. It will increase by 5 percent every year through 2020 at the board’s discretion.

We’re paying for water way more than is required to get them through the conservation period, said Jeffrey Decker, founder of the Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association.

The district says it’s facing more than a $9-million budget deficit with less people buying water, due to state-mandated water cuts of 36 percent.

The association, however, insists the deficit is half that, and says a rate increase of $12 a month is fair with a $2 increase a month for the next four years.

Decker says the district could also cut elsewhere.

We want to encourage them to lower their administrative expenses around $1 million a year during this crisis, he said.

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Webmaster note: According to the Yorba Linda Water District website: Yorba Linda Water District is a public agency serving residents of Yorba Linda and portions of Placentia, Brea, Anaheim and areas of unincorporated Orange County. Yorba Linda Water District is totally independent of all city and county governments. None of the revenue obtained by Yorba Linda Water District is used to subsidize non-water related activities or the activities of any other agency.

Source: KABC 7