By Khalida Sarwari
A number of Saratoga residents have been converging at neighborhood meetings recently to compare their water bills. The math just doesn’t add up, many are saying.
Rajesh Dorairajan, an engineer for Microsoft and a Saratoga resident of nearly nine years, is one such voice. Though he has a pool in his backyard that he typically maintains year-round and tops off regularly in the summer months, he said his usage pattern hasn’t changed much over the last year and yet his bill for the June-July period was “pretty steep,” jumping to $450 compared to $220 last year. This, despite the pool being turned off and he and his wife being away for almost a month, he said. His April-May bill was a lot lower, he said, at about $130.
Dorairajan said he’d like to ask the water company to come and inspect his home for possible leaks, as that might be one factor that’s driving up his bill. He’d also like to know how the company calculates its rates.
“I would ask the water company what is it that is causing my bill to go up so high,” he said. “I’m sure they might have some reasons. It’s hard to understand what is the basis of these water rate increases.”
The answer appears to lie primarily in a drought surcharge imposed by the San Jose Water Company–which provides Saratoga’s residents with drinking water–to promote conservation. The surcharge was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission last summer and revised in July. The commission approved an 8.6 percent rate increase starting Jan. 1 that went live on June 14 but was increased again on July 1 by an additional 6.5 percent, equating to a total rate increase of 15.1 percent, according to Councilman Rishi Kumar, who represents the city of Saratoga on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Commission.
He explained that some residents are seeing an increase in their bill for the amount they owe from January through June 13 as the water company received the public utilities commission’s approval in June and it was retroactive to Jan. 1.
According to San Jose Water Company spokesman John Tang, the company derived its surcharge by taking the average water usage of all their customers in 2013, calculating water use restrictions based on that average and applying a blanket surcharge for those who don’t meet that bar. The surcharge rate was motivated, Tang said, by conservation decisions made by Gov. Jerry Brown.
“We said we are going to follow the governor’s approach to try and get the highest water-using customers to do more and conserve more because that’s potentially where the savings come from,” he said. “Our customers are responding very favorably. We’re certainly getting very good results overall.”
Kumar indicated that he, along with Councilman Howard Miller and water district board member and Saratoga resident Nai Hsueh, protested the “unfair calculation” at a public rally in San Jose in May 2015, a month before it went into effect.
“We have large lot sizes and are more affected by these surcharges, plus we have lot more vegetation and shrubs that need watering compared to the average district baseline,” said Kumar.
Some residents filed an appeal with the public utilities commission in the hopes of changing the plan, but the appeal was dismissed and the ruling stands, said Tang.
“No conservation plan is going to make everybody happy, and we realize that,” he said. “We’re facing the situation that we’re in and we’re responding to the various calls from the various agencies. These are some extraordinary times we’re living in terms of water supply. Everyone’s doing their part, including people in Saratoga.”
San Jose Water Company offers a water rate assistance program to give customers that qualify a 50 percent discount on their water bill, said Tang. For more information, visitsjwater.com and search for “water rate assistance program.” The company also offers a complimentary water audit for customers whereby staff visits their residence, conducts an inspection and makes suggestions about how to use water efficiently. For more information, call 408. 279.7900.
For more information about the drought surcharge, visit the San Jose Water Company’s dedicated drought page at bit.ly/SJwaterDroughtInfo.
The Saratoga City Council is expected to take up the issue at its Sept. 7 meeting.
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