The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors on
Thursday voted 6-0 to approve a $364 million budget for fiscal year
2007-08.
San jose – The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors on Thursday voted 6-0 to approve a $364 million budget for fiscal year 2007-08.
The spending plan reflects a $50 million increase from last year’s $314 million budget that’s partly due to the district’s ability to raise water rates. Three weeks ago, that’s just what the district did, eliminating more than $150 million in discounts for county farmers and tacking on a $25 increase to the yearly water bill for the average five-person family, raising it from $230 to $255.
The district budget includes $110,000 for a Llagas Creek fire management program, $1.25 million to continue recycled water rebates with the cities of San Jose and Sunnyvale, $50,000 to plan for global climate change, $305,000 to upgrade the district Web site and perform public outreach.
In the next 12 months the district will collect $135 million in revenue from cities, farmers and private water companies, who often recoup that cost by passing it on to consumers.
Additionally, the district will receive $96 million from issuing bonds for capital programs and $72 million from property taxes, along with income from various smaller sources.
Thanks to the funding boost, the district is hiring 21 additional employees at a cost of $2.2 million, purchasing computers at a costs of $2.2 million and shopping for new cars and trucks at a cost of $700,000. Meanwhile other county agencies suffer layoff and cutbacks to human services.
Critics say the district’s escalating budget reflects needless spending, but district officials say they are simply trying to keep up with soaring costs of maintaining water resources for some 1.7 million residents.
“We all know they they’re jacking the water rates up,” said San Martin resident Bob Cerruti, retired Hewlett-Packard worker who is an avid water district observer. “It’s because they need the money to fuel their bureaucracy.”
That bureaucracy includes more than 830 employees, who account for roughly 40 percent of the district’s operational expenses. Officials say that is comparable to other public agencies and say water rates are more or less the same as those around the state.
