Why Vote No

1. Fire and Flood Safety Would be Threatened: 

If enacted, Measure U will reduce SLVWD’s revenue by about $140,000 in December 2024 and about $170,000/month in 2025.  Even if a new rate increase is enacted, the loss revenue loss will be $1 million or more (see What Measure U Does for details).

According to the district’s financial office, the district will be able to continue to cover routine operation costs.  However, most capital improvement projects will be curtailed and the district will not have the resources to address emergency repairs in a timely manner.

These capital projects are critical to our valley’s ability to recover from the CZU fire and respond to future disasters. With our history and climate change, we know more fires and floods are coming.  Our water system has an aging infrastructure with undersized pipes, low water pressure and inadequate fire hydrants in many neighborhoods.  Repairs to the system caused by the CZU fire and winter floods are far from complete.   Fire hardening is also a high priority. The district’s ambitious capital improvement plan is being implemented now and is designed to address these problems.  

Our Valley’s safety and preparedness for the next fire and flood depend on a healthy, adequately-funded water district.  If Measure U passes, the district will be just one major storm or pipeline failure from serious operational and financial peril.

2. The District’s Future Would be Placed in Jeopardy

Our water district is already facing a serious financial crisis.  That is why it enacted the new rate structure and rate increase, following the required, complicated process that included multiple opportunities for community engagement.  [Click here for more information on the new rate structure and its rationale. https://slvpost.com/the-slv-water-district-rate-hike-what-happened-and-why/]  

The sad fact, ignored by the measure’s proponents, is that the costs of delivering safe, reliable water service are rising well above the rate of inflation.

The measure would undo the District’s careful work to develop a fair and equitable rate increase. The District’s plan puts the primary financial burden on heavy water users and addresses the many challenges we face in continuing to provide safe, reliable water service to all.  

The district faces huge challenges even with the rate increase.  Without it, we will be following the path of the privately-owned Big Basin Water Company, which is now in receivership.  Its ratepayers have unreliable and often unsafe water supply and face plunging housing values.   

Responding to the next fire or flood, the next burst of an aging pipe (as recently occurred in Boulder Creek), the failure to replace leaky water tanks, and suddenly we can’t flush the toilet, don’t have water to put out a house fire, and have dirty water coming from the taps.  This is literally the risks we are taking if we enact Measure U.

Underinvestment is not a viable option.  The savings now will be more than wiped out by avoidable increased costs in the future.

3. Staff Morale

Staff cuts will almost certainly be necessary if Measure U is passed.  The district’s budget covers primarily staff and fixed costs.  The payroll will have to be reduced to absorb the loss of funds.

There is already a real and troubling staffing crisis. The District Manager, Financial Manager, District Secretary and Environmental Department Director (who also served as grant writer and de facto Deputy Director) have all resigned in the last 10 months.  The District Manager and Financial Director stated publicly that they resigned due to the harassment at the hands of Director Bob Fultz, a leading supporter of Measure U.  The controversy and conflict generated by Measure U and its supporters has demoralized staff and made recruiting new staff a major problem.

Our district’s staff is the backbone of the entire system.  We need to respect, honor and thank the staff for their tireless work on our behalf to deliver safe, reliable water, while addressing the inevitable crises that will arise.  We need collaboration, not divisiveness and ill-advised ballot measures that put the future of the district at risk and raises the specter of staff reductions.  No wonder staff are leaving and recruiting is so difficult. 

4. SLV School District will be at risk for sharply increased rates over time.

Our school district is one of the largest water users in SLV 6.6 million gallons in its last fiscal year.  The new rate structure classifies the school district as an industrial user, exempting it from the tiered rate structure, resulting in modest cost increases for the five-year period.  If Measure passes, any new rate increases will have to rely primarily on volume-based charges.  Even a small increase in the industrial water use rate will cause he school district’s costs to skyrocket.