State Water Board to hold meetings seeking input on water affordability for low-income residents

In an effort to seek recommendations on how to make water more affordable to low-income Californians, the State Water Resources Control Board will hold a series of meetings in five locations throughout the state from October 12 to November 9.

State law provides that every Californian has the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes. The State Water Resources Control Board is developing a plan for a statewide Low-Income Rate Assistance Program, which is required by A.B. 401 (2015, Dodd, D-Napa) to be released no later than February 1, 2018.

The State Water Board is encouraging anyone with ideas on how to develop and implement a statewide low-income rate assistance program to attend and provide comments. The water board is also seeking information about existing rate assistance programs and whether they have been successful in helping people manage their water bills.

One or more of the State Water Board members may be present for the meeting, but no State Water Board action will be taken during the meeting. Spanish interpretation services will be made available at public meetings. Dates and locations for the five meetings are:

Fresno

October 12, 2016 • 6:00-8:00 pm

Woodward Park Regional

Library Meeting Room

944 E. Perrin Ave

Fresno, CA 93720

 

Redding

October 19, 2016 • 6:00-8:00 pm

City Hall Building

777 Cypress Avenue

Redding, CA 96001

 

Inglewood

October 26, 2016 • 6:30-8:30 pm

Inglewood City Hall

Community Room

One Manchester Blvd.

Inglewood, CA 90301

 

Oakland

November 7, 2016 • 6:00-8:00 pm

East Bay Municipal Utility District

375 11th Street

Oakland, CA 94607

 

Bakersfield

November 9, 2016 • 6:00-8:00 pm

Junior League Community Center

1928 – 19th Street

Bakersfield, CA 93303

The program for the statewide low-income rate assistance meetings and the topics for comments at these meetings include the following:

Nature of the assistance that could be offered by the program

• What is a reasonable amount of assistance to low-income households?
• What form should this assistance take (rebate, bill cost reduction, tax credit, other)?

Program eligibility

• How should a household’s eligibility be determined?
• What other entities besides households should qualify for assistance? (Schools? Day care centers? Health care centers?)
• Should water quality challenges in a community be a priority for granting eligibility? For example, should the additional costs of bottled water be taken into account when water is purchased because tap water isn’t safe?
• What changes should increase or decrease the level of assistance?
• What percentage of income spent on water should trigger eligibility?
• Should enrollment in other programs serve as a basis for which to make an individual eligible? If so, which programs could serve this role: electric utility lifeline programs, telephone lifeline programs, Medicaid, other forms of government aid, other programs?

Program funding resources

• How much revenue is needed for the program?
• How should the revenue be generated; what revenue sources are appropriate?
• How should the revenue be collected?
• How should the assistance be distributed?
• How should the revenue be allocated across customer classes within systems?

Technical administration of the program

• Should the program be administered at the local or state level?
• If at the local level, should it be administered by the water system or by local government?
• If at the local level, should the State Water Board be involved in administration?
• What measures should be in place to ensure proper program oversight?
• How should program performance be evaluated?

To submit written comments to [email protected]. In your email message, please include the following in the subject line: “Comments on low-income rate assistance.” You can also contact Kathy Frevert at 916-322-5274.

For additional information on the Low-Income Rate Assistance Program, or questions regarding this notice, please contact Esther Tracy at (916) 341-5908 or [email protected].