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Dunsmuir, California, Water Service Changes, Measure W (November 2016)
| Measure W: Dunsmuir Water Service Changes |
|---|
|
| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
|
| Topic: |
| Local water |
| Related articles |
| Local water on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California Siskiyou County, California ballot measures City governance on the ballot |
| See also |
| Dunsmuir, California |
A measure making changes to water and sewer services was on the ballot for Dunsmuir voters in Siskiyou County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was defeated.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of making various changes to the city's water and sewer policies, including prohibiting turning off utility services for nonpayment of bills, making property owners, not tenants, responsible for paying water and sewer bills, and establishing a flat rate for water services. |
| A no vote was a vote against making various changes to the city's water and sewer policies, thereby leaving the city the option of shutting off services if bills go unpaid, allowing tenants, rather than property owners, to be the legally responsible customers for water and sewer services, and leaving the option of higher fee rates for properties with higher consumption. |
Election results
| Measure W | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| No | 457 | 66.23% | ||
| Yes | 233 | 33.77% | ||
- Election results from Siskiyou County Clerk's Office
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
Shall Ordinance #H2O be adopted, modifying Dunsmuir Municipal Code chapters codified under Title 13 of the Dunsmuir Municipal Code dealing with water and sewer services?[2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Dunsmuir City Attorney:
| “ |
Measure W is an initiative placed on the ballot by a petition signed by the requisite number of voters required by the Elections Code. If approved by a majority the voters, the Measure will make various changes in Chapter 13.04 of the Dunsmuir Municipal Code relating to the water and sewer service. The Measure would provide that customers for water and sewer be property owners only, not tenants. The Measure would prohibit the City from discontinuing service for nonpayment of bills. The City’s recourse for nonpayment would be to seek a lien or file a lawsuit against the property owner in the hopes that funds expended would eventually be recovered. In the meantime, the City would be required to continue providing service. The City could refuse service or discontinue service if it found the system servicing the customer was unsafe or dangerous. The Measure would prohibit the City from metering water service or for using meters for anything other than “statistical purposes” until the use of metering is mandated by the State of California in 2024. At that time, the City would be permitted to establish metered new water rates as provided by Article XIII.B of the California Constitution. The Measure requires that residential customers pay a flat fee. The Measure includes an exhibit that sets forth the flat fees based on meter size. The Measure contains no mechanism to adjust fees prior to 2024. The Measure provides no alternate method for the City to acquire revenues necessary to operate the water system. The California Constitution requires that fees and charges for water service be reasonable, fair and equitable in nature and proportionately representative of the costs incurred by the City. (Article XIII.C and D.). The flat rate system proposed by this Measure could be subject to legal challenge in that customers are not charged in proportion to their use. The Measure also applies to sewer service. Property owners, not tenants, would be subject to charge for sewer service. The Measure sets a flat rate for sewer service. The charge for sewer service will be implemented and collected in the same manner as water service. The charge for sewer service, however, may be adjusted in accordance with California Constitution Article XIII.D. The Measure allows no such adjustment for water rates until 2024.[2] |
” |
| —Dunsmuir City Attorney[1] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a successful initiative petition campaign.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Dunsmuir Local utilities. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Siskiyou County Elections, "Current Elections Information," accessed October 12, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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