A couple of weeks ago I challenged the validity information on a “Regional Comparison – water/sewer Combined” chart prepared by the city of Santa Maria utilities staff, which they used to demonstrate that the new rates they were proposing would be lower than many other jurisdictions — and specifically the city of Lompoc.
Since the publication of my commentary, additional information has come to light: It seems that the Local Agency Formation Commission of Santa Barbara County (LAFCO) may have its fingerprints on this faulty data.
In 2022 LAFCO prepared a 1,130 page “Sphere of Influence” review of agencies providing water, wastewater, recycled water, and stormwater services in Santa Barbara County, which included a rate comparison for four county communities.
The information on the charts provided concerning the city of Lompoc by LAFCO is totally inaccurate. How do I know? Well, I asked the Lompoc utility director for his observations on this report; his response calls the entire 1,130-page report into question.
First, he said it appears LAFCO cited information in a 2013 water and wastewater rate increase proposal to the Lompoc City Council as if they were the actual rates; this is false.
He said the resolution was “was negated by the then majority on the council after the second year of increase.” Thus, the proposed rate increases didn’t occur.
Then he told me the other “mistake” was the assumption of 10 units of use. The overall population of Lompoc has an average per-meter consumption of approximately 7 units. A far greater efficiency than the generic 10 units presumed by the LAFCO report.
I know this is a lot of numbers, but how does this look when applied to a real customer in the city of Lompoc?
On pages 939 and 940 of its report, LAFCO claims that in 2022 it cost rate-payers $115.52 for 10 units of water; this doesn’t compare to the rate for water consumption in our single-family dwelling with irrigated landscaping.
The highest I have paid since the LAFCO report was published has been $116.40, including the meter cost in August 2023 for 18 units of water, nearly twice as much water as the LAFCO example.
Using the same inflated 10-unit usage rate for the combined monthly rate for water and wastewater, LAFCO claims it costs $208.32. However, my average total monthly combined cost for both services during 11 months in 2023 has been $116.53 for an average use of 7.9 units of water, much less than the LACO estimate.
Using this faulty data, LAFCO concluded: “Overall, Lompoc water and sewer rates for residential customers are much higher than other communities in the County area.”
Based on my real-time experience this statement is patently false.
So, you can see these weren’t typos or minor mathematical errors; they are seriously misleading data presented to LAFCO decision makers.
What’s most disturbing is the purpose of this report: “This report provides information about the services and boundaries of Cities and Special Districts providing water, wastewater, recycled water, and stormwater services in Santa Barbara County. The report is for use by the Local Agency Formation Commission in conducting a statutorily required review and update process.”
LAFCO approves or disapproves annexation requests based on information like this. Because they either didn’t fact check their assumptions or purposely wanted to make it appear that the city of Lompoc was charging their rate-payers considerably more than surrounding communities, it may have influenced decision makers during annexation hearings.
Public agencies have a responsibility to provide accurate information in reports like these because they seem to find their way into other public documents, such as the faulty chart used in the recent Santa Maria water and wastewater rate increase hearings.
It would have been much more responsible if LAFCO had fact checked the draft report with the city of Lompoc to assure its accuracy, but apparently that didn’t happen.
References:
https://www.noozhawk.com/ron-fink-lack-of-proper-research-leads-to-faulty-information/
Final+Adopted+WATER+SEWER+MSR.pdf (sblafco.org)
