The South Pasadena City Council's recent decision to increase water rates by 30 percent and adopt a tiered rate model will take effect this March. Under the new water rate system, residents will be billed a rate based on water usage and meter size. The new rates will be reflected in the April 2011 water bill.

The city says the reasoning behind the tiered rate system and water rate increase is two-fold: first, to increase revenues given the rising cost of water and need for water infrastructure improvements and second, to promote water conservation among South Pas residents.

While the average residential increase will amount to $15 on every bill, some residential water customers who fall into the highest tier of water usage could see increases above $80 on their bill. The rate depends on the size of a customer's water meter and units of water consumed.

"Tiered rates encourage conservation," said Diana Mahmud, chair of the city's Water Council. She said the current flat rate billing system is not consistent with the way most utilities price water.

She and other Water Council members have long emphasized the rising costs of water. The city uses 5,000 acre-feet of water annually, even though it is allocated 3,000 acre-feet a year.

"We're paying a premium for the overdraft amount," said Kim Hughes, member of the Water Council. The city gets its water from the upper San Gabriel Valley municipal water district.

"Cost of this replacement water has gone up," said Bill Kelly, vice-chair of the Water Council. "We need to get serious about water efficiency."

According to the city, the cost of the replacement water has increased by 176 percent over the last three year. "We were blindsided by these increases," said Marcelino Aguilar of the city's water division.

However, Council member Philip Putnam, who voted against the water rate increase and tiered rate system in December, believes the billing structure should take certain variables into account, including lot size, household size and location.

"I think the tiered rate structure we adopted would be unfair," he said. "The average cost of water has increased and it is a limited resource. However, a lot of what's [causing this increase] is our fixed costs," he said.

Putnam believes fixed costs, such as cost to repair reservoirs and pumps, should be evenly divided among all residents, not just the residents who use greater amounts of water. The cost of the upcoming reservoir repair projects is estimated at $60 million. "Everyone needs to share fairly," he said.

He noted that some South Pasadena residents already have certain types of landscaping that require greater water. "Let's take a house in the hills that's only one-fourth landscaped and a house in the same size lot in the southeast of the city that's landscaped 100 percent. Should they be treated identical? These are issues that need to be looked at."

Bill Kelly said the city did not pay attention to rising water costs and dwindling water supplies over the past decade. "The writing has been on the wall," he said. "Because we are small and we were used to getting water from our wells, we weren't paying attention to these larger costs," he added.

The rate hike has raised questions among many South Pas residents. Some residents, including Bianca Richards, said renters have not received any detailed information regarding the water rate increase.

"There are educational things the city should put out," said long-time South Pasadena resident Gretchen Robinette, co-chair of Women Involved in South Pasadena Political Action (WISPPA). The group said it would like to see more outreach on how the rate increase will impact residents and conservation methods.

"I think the city has never promoted water conservation," said Pat Ford, a member of the Planning Commission. She said many residents are wondering how to save water and rate increases would financially impact residents. "The middle class is getting so scrunched," she said.

Chu Thai, the city's Finance Director, said the city aims to promote conservation methods, including a toilet replacemet program. He said the city staff is also considering another billing structure, which would charge a rate based on a number of variables, including household size and property size.

While Thai said this type of rate system, called the "water budget model," is gaining popularity nationwide, only a handful of cities currently employ this billing structure. After some analysis, Thai said he will bring this system before council in one to two months.

Under the rate increase approved in a 4-1 Council vote last month, South Pasadena's water rates would continue to rise until 2015, with another 30 percent hike planned in January 2012, 18 percent in 2013, 18 percent in 2014 and 5 percent in 2015.

"People are going to have a bigger shock in January and February of 2012," said Council member Philip Putnam. "We're raising rates 30 percent now, and an additional 30 percent then, compounding the rate increase. Early next year, after people have a 62 percent rate increase, we're going to get a lot of angry calls."

The city will hold an workshop about water rates for South Pasadena residents at City Council Chambers (1414 Mission Street) from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5. After the workshop, the city will take interested residents on a bus tour of three reservoirs: Wilson Reservoir in San Marino, Graves Reservoir in San Marino and Garfield Reservoir in South Pasadena. (Wilson Reservoir is first in line to get reconstructed). Buses leave City Hall at 10 a.m. on Feb. 5 and residents will be accompanied by city officials from the water division.

A public hearing on the tiered water rates model is scheduled during the City Council meeting on Feb. 16. Water customers also have until that day to file written objections to the proposed changes.

For more information or to determine your estimated rate increase, visit the city's water rate information online or call the Finance Department at 626-403-7259.

Click on pdfs in the photo box above to view an informational water rates pamphlet (containing a Q&A) recently published by the City of South Pasadena as well as fact sheet about the Wilson Reservoir Replacement.