Sentinel staff report– Voters won’t see any names for the Citrus Heights Water District board of directors on their ballot this year, after no challengers filed to run for a seat on the board by the Aug. 7 deadline.
Caryl Sheehan
Director Caryl Sheehan will serve another four-year term on the three-member water district board of directors.
Sheehan’s election is referred to by voting officials as being “appointed in lieu of election.” While uncontested elections are uncommon for more high-profile seats, Citrus Heights Water District elections have a history of low interest from residents, who tend to only show interest when public hearings are held regarding water rate increases.
In 2018, the only two individuals to run for two positions on the water district board both won by default, after no other candidates filed. The same occurred in 2016, when Sheehan was re-elected with no challengers.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue representing my neighbors on the Citrus Heights Water District Board,” Sheehan told The Sentinel in a statement Friday.
She said the district’s focus will continue to be on Project 2030, for water main replacement, as well as a study to help reduce costs of water meter replacement. She also said the board remains focused on working with San Juan Water District, which sets wholesale water rates affecting Citrus Heights.
Sheehan said she also looks forward to helping “find ways to involve our customers,” noting the district’s Customer Advisory Committee and an upcoming “Garden Corps,” which she said will be a volunteer group tasked with helping manage a new water efficient demonstration garden.
She said the district will also be launching a re-designed “easy-to-use” website in September, accessible at www.chwd.org.
By Caryl Sheehan– The Citrus Heights Water District is proud to be one of just 299 Special Districts honored nationally for our financial reporting for 2018.
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) established its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting program in 1945 to encourage and assist state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles to prepare transparent comprehensive annual financial reports with full disclosure and then to recognize those entities that succeed in achieving that goal.
Citrus Heights Water District (CHWD) received the award the first time we submitted our financial reports to GFOA in 2017. We look forward to the GFOA review of our 2019 submittal as well.
CHWD has executed a sound investment and savings strategy that includes maintaining appropriate reserves to meet our current and future needs. This means our debt remains relatively small, as compared to other agencies, and we have the funding available to adapt to changing conditions such as drought and amendments to state and federal regulations.
Our streamlined approach to management and leadership allows our team to do more with less. CHWD salaries account for an average of just 27% of our total annual budget. In addition, CHWD’s modest pension plan means our agency’s retirement obligations are substantially lower than neighboring agencies.
Retirement benefits comparison and Unfunded Accrued Liability (UAL), provided by Caryl Sheehan
We are leading the way in regional cooperation by championing a meter replacement study that will unite us with our neighboring Districts in the Sacramento area to collaborate on the inspection and replacement of water meters, saving all of our customers a substantial amount of money.
The Board has never been prouder of the District’s administrative staff and those engaged in its field operations. Guided by thoughtful Strategic Planning efforts, we are extremely well positioned to continue to provide high-quality, reliable water service to our customers — a public asset that ensures the health and viability of the entire community.
Caryl is currently a Citrus Heights Water District Director and has served on the CHWD Board since 2014. She is currently the Chair of Sacramento Groundwater Authority.
A map shows boundaries for the five district seats on the Citrus Heights City Council.
Sentinel staff report– Ever consider running for local office?
Through Aug. 7, voters in Citrus Heights have the opportunity to apply to run for a seat on four different governing boards this year, ranging from City Council to water district and school board.
Citrus Heights City Council: Two of the council’s five seats are up for election this November for the newly created District 1 and District 3 seats. Both positions are four-year terms. District 3 is a vacant seat that was created when the city drew new district maps last year. Two current council members, Bret Daniels and Jeff Slowey, are both located in District 1, meaning only one of them has the possibility to continue on the council.
Citrus Heights Water District: One of the three positions on the local water district’s board of directors are up for election. Each director represents a different portion of the district — and some areas of the city are covered by the neighboring districts. The seat is a four-year term, currently occupied by Caryl Sheehan.
San Juan Unified School District: Three seats on the five-member school board are up for election. The seats are four-year terms and are currently at-large positions, although this will likely change to by-trustee area elections for 2022. The three seats are currently occupied by Board President Paula Villascez, along with board members Pam Costa and Saul Hernandez.
San Juan Water District: Local residents also elect board members on the five-member district which supplies water to CHWD and other water districts in the area. Two at-large seats will be up for election, currently occupied by Pamela Tobin and Kenneth Miller.
Voters also elect members to the Los Rios Community College District governing board, as well as the Metro Fire District board. However board members for districts covering Citrus Heights were elected in 2018 and are not up for election until 2022.
The deadline to file paperwork to run for the positions is Aug. 7, unless the incumbent doesn’t file — which extends the deadline. More information and paperwork can be found on the City Clerk’s website and the Sacramento County Elections website.
Citrus Heights Water District directors, Ray Riehle and Caryl Sheehan, left, listen to a staff member during a Dec. 5, 2018, hearing. // CHWD.
Updated Dec. 7, 12:38 p.m.– Sentinel staff report– Following a public hearing Wednesday night attended by about 15 residents, Citrus Heights Water District directors voted 3-0 to support a staff recommendation to increase service fees and water usage charges.
Bi-monthly, fixed service charge fees are now set to rise about $4 for a typical 1-inch residential meter in 2019, with water usage charges rising about four cents to $1.06 per unit. That will bring fixed charges up to $78.18, with additional charges based on actual water use. In 2015, residents with a typical 1-inch meter paid $56.13 in fixed service fees and 77 cents per unit of water, with a unit of water roughly equaling 748 gallons.
The Dec. 5 public hearing was held at a community room at Rusch Park, where officials heard from a half-dozen ratepayers during the hearing, in addition to receiving a total of 16 letters of protest that were submitted in writing prior to the meeting.
Opponents argued that repeated increases in their water bills were creating hardships for both families and those on fixed incomes, while district officials said the increases in both service fees and water consumption rates were necessary to avoid debt-financing and provide for replacement of aging water mains and meters, as well as expand the district’s groundwater well systems.
“The rate increases have continued year after year,” said resident Rob Hamilton, who lives on a larger property and told the board he tries to be self-sufficient with gardening, raising livestock, and growing fruit trees. His comments were echoed by another resident who also questioned the repeated increases, which the district has voted to raise each year since 2012.
One resident, Kathy Morris, spoke in support of the water district, saying she trusted officials to make the right decision and told directors at the hearing that she “appreciate[d] the fact that you are planning ahead.” Water district officials had visited Morris’ neighborhood association, among others, last month to present information about the rate increase — noting rising wholesale water costs from the San Juan Water District, which are projected to rise by 9 percent next year, another 9 percent in 2020.
Responding to a question about whether the fee increases would continue year after year, Director Ray Riehle noted the three-member board of directors will have a new member next year and said “one board can’t tell the next board what to do.”
At the district’s next meeting, David Wheaton, former general services director for the City of Citrus Heights, will be taking the seat of retiring director Allen Dains. Both Riehle and Wheaton won their seats by default last month after no one else filed to run for their seats in the November election.
Directors Riehle, Dains, and Caryl Sheehan, all voted in support of the fee and rate increase. The new charges become effective next year and will affect about two-thirds of Citrus Heights residents, as some Citrus Heights residents are served by neighboring water districts.
Want to share your thoughts on the Water District’s decision? Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
Resident Larry Wright (left) speaks to Citrus Heights Water District Director Ray Riehle and Assistant General Manager Hilary Straus (right) about rate increases, after a Nov. 15, 2016 public hearing. // CH Sentinel
A double-digit water rate and service charge increase was approved by a 3-0 vote of Citrus Heights Water District directors on Tuesday night, despite receiving 39 letters of protest from customers opposed to the proposal. District officials said the additional revenue to be generated from the 13 percent increase is needed to cover infrastructure projects and compensate for increased wholesale water costs.
Beginning in 2017, customers will be charged 99 cents per unit of water used, up from 87 cents. Fixed service charges for a typical residential customer with a 1-inch line will also rise to $72, up from the current $64 bi-monthly charge. The District projects the new rates will increase revenue by about $1.5 million next year.
Although several dozen written protest letters were received prior to the Nov. 15 public hearing, only two people spoke at the nearly empty community room at Rusch Park. Ratepayer Larry Wright, a 44-year resident, said he was surprised more people didn’t show up and said the district should have been planning for infrastructure replacement years ago.
“It seems like government and agencies think they have the right to just go back to the people whenever they want saying ‘you gotta do this, you gotta give it to us,’” Wright told the board on Tuesday. “You need to start planning before now, and I know you don’t want to hear that.”
General Manager Bob Churchill replied to Wright that the 2017 budget laid out a plan “to do just what you’re suggesting,” referencing an allocation of $300,000 for a newly created water meter replacement reserve fund.
CHWD Assistant General Manager Hilary Straus, who will replace Churchill as general manager on Friday, said the rate increase will pay for replacing aging water mains, continuing development of groundwater well systems, and installing new meters. He said the District seeks to be proactive in repairing and replacing pipelines to avoid “catastrophic failures,” and also prefers to operate on a “pay as you go” plan rather than incurring debt and paying interest.
In voting for the rate increase and 2017 budget, Director Raymond Riehle said it was a way to “pay it forward to the next generation,” so others wouldn’t be stuck with the bill in the year 2030 — when the District says many of its water mains will have reached the end of their service life. His fellow board members, Caryl Sheehan and Allen Dains, also voted in favor of the rate increase.
Sheehan was reelected to a four-year term on the water district board this year, but her name did not appear on the Nov. 8 voting ballot, as no candidate filed papers to run against her.
A legally required mailer for the rate proposal was sent out to all CHWD customers in September, resulting in 39 written responses in protest to the increase. Many said they were senior citizens living on a fixed income and were largely concerned about the fixed service charge rising to $72.
Several letters also urged the water district to adopt an assistance program based on income, but a legal memorandum provided to The Sentinel by the water district indicates state law currently “does not allow the District to offer a low-income rate program for customers, but that option may be available in the future.”
“I really don’t mind paying for the water I use,” wrote resident Agnes Willis in her protest letter, noting recent bills showing she was charged no more than $12 for actual water use. “But when I have to pay $63.98 before using one drop of water [that’s] outrageous.”
Another resident called the increase “elder abuse,” and others questioned “constant” rate increases for infrastructure improvements.
The District approved a three percent increase two years ago and a 14 percent rate increase last November. In raising rates in 2014, a District mailer said it was following a recommendation from a 2013 Water Rate Study conducted by the Reed Group, which recommended “a 3% increase each year through 2018 to prevent the need to issue debt to cover infrastructure maintenance and replacement.”
Commenting on the 2013 study, the District’s incoming general manager told The Sentinel “we’re going to be revisiting that rate study” and said it operated on a “different set of assumptions” than the District has now.
Asked whether customers could expect another rate increase, Straus said “costs always go up,” but his goal is to do what he can to “smooth out those costs.” He also said the District isn’t in control of how much water wholesale costs will be, noting that CHWD’s supplier proposed raising wholesale rates by 16 percent in 2017.
Despite increases, Citrus Heights Water District consumers still pay a few percent less than the regional monthly average water bill, according to a District survey. Orangevale Water Company has one of the lowest bi-monthly service charges of $28 for a 1-inch line, while Fair Oaks Water District has had a higher $65 service charge in place for the past three years, but also a cheaper per-unit cost of just 45 cents per water unit.
Bret Daniels, who won election to the city council last week and ran for CHWD director in 2014, said he was strongly against the rate increase and believes the District should be looking at cutting costs internally before seeking to raise rates.
Daniels cited data from the website Transparent California, which reflects public employee wages and benefits reported on the State Controller’s Office website. The numbers show CHWD’s general manager was paid $218,000 in total wages last year, with benefits adding an additional $64,000. The District’s Operations Manager is shown having total pay of $239,000, with an additional $34,000 in benefits.
Straus argues that the District has been doing exactly what Daniels advocated, citing the 2017 budget that cuts one manager position entirely. When Straus takes over as general manager, his position of assistant general manager will disappear and not be replaced. The 2017 budget shows a 33 percent drop in management costs listed on the budget, but an overall rise of 4.1 percent in District employee salary and benefits.
Jayna Karpinski-Costa, who heads up the Sylvan Old Auburn Ranch neighborhood association, said she was in support of the rate increase, as long as the money wouldn’t go towards salaries and would keep the District from having to go into debt to pay for future infrastructure improvements.
The increase will affect about two-thirds of Citrus Heights residents, as about a third of Citrus Heights residents are served by neighboring water districts and will not face the proposed rate increase.
