If you are interested in stopping the GCSD rate hikes from being implimented
please write or email a letter speaking out against the hikes.  The BASIC
rates could be $174.90 sewer & water by the year 2007!!!   That's only a year and
a half folks!  SPEAK UP NOW

Ask why it was necessary to purchase brand new, top end trucks
Ask why GCSD employees are using these brand new trucks for personal use?  
Who's paying for the gas, wear/tear and insurance for personal use?
Ask why there is so much ongoing training when there aren't enough employees
to do the work

Ask why!!!

Please read the article published in the Union Democrat below and email or
mail your letter to GSCD, P.O. Box 350, Groveland, CA  95321. Our pockets aren't
as deep as the GCSD Board seems to think they are!  

Vicki West is the secretary to Jim Goodrich and the GCSD Board of Directors.  
Email is as valid as a letter and should be answered.  The more people who do
this the better!   vwest@gcsd.org   and maybe copy to Jim  
jgoodrich@gcsd.org   That way it can't be ignored.  

Name withheld. Webmaster.


Here's a copy of the article in the Union Democrat:

GCSD inches toward rate hike
Published: May 12, 2005
Groveland Community Services District directors are closer to raising water
and sewer rates after yesterday reviewing a consultant's report recommending
the hefty hikes.
The report suggests raising sewer rates by 42 percent and water rates by 27
percent for average residential users.
During yesterday's lengthy meeting, directors agreed to send letters to
residents alerting them to the proposed increases, which could change during the
review and hearing process.
A public hearing is scheduled for July 13 and, if nothing changes, Groveland
area residents could start paying the new rates as soon as September.
Average GCSD customers could see their water bills go from a $39.50 to $55 a
month. Pine Mountain Lake water customers, who pay higher rates, could begin
paying $61.50 a month instead of $46.
Sewer rates could rise from $57.25 a month to $80.83.
"This is an organization that is going before the public with a very
unpopular stance," said Groveland resident Dan Levin, who attended yesterday's
meeting.
But board members and some residents said the rate increases are necessary.
"We wouldn't be in this mess if all the capital reserves weren't drained from
previous management," Jerry Baker, a Groveland resident, told directors.
"You've undercharged for the last five years and the public is making up for it."
Before 2003, customers had not faced a sewer rate increase in about a decade.
"In 2003, we thought we did the catch up," said Director Craig Maxwell,
referring to rate hikes enacted then. "I'm trying to understand what went wrong
with that."
The district also did not bring in as much revenue as expected during the
2003-04 and 2004-05 fiscal years, according to Blair Aas, a consultant hired by
the district to complete a study on utility rates.
Reasons for the revenue shortage included landscaping irrigation adjustments,
a decline in new connections and a drop in water use, Aas said yesterday.
Also, operation and maintenance expenses are projected to rise by about 17
percent a year, partially because of labor costs, he said.
The pace of inflation, at about 3.5 percent a year, was also taken into
account in the proposed rate raises.
"So many people are on a fixed income," Groveland resident Sharon Hunt said
at the meeting. "This might affect the economy here."
But the district needs to be fiscally responsible and must pay for projects
to protect the environment, Baker countered.
About 50,000 gallons of sewer water spilled into Pine Mountain Lake on New
Year's Eve because of a lift station short circuit.
A large factor in the rate raises is a $20 million improvement plan that the
district aims to complete in five years. GCSD plans to fix and replace old
sewer lift stations, a treatment plant and water systems. But it must borrow
millions of dollars to complete the project.
To pay back loans and bonds, the district plans to include debt service
charges in the new rates. The rates also include fixed charges and use charges for
the district's 1,400 sewer and 3,000 water customers.
These charges and the other factors could make rates raise even higher over
the next couple of years, Aas said.
An average residential customer's sewer bills could jump to $109.19 in 2007,
he said. Water bills could go to $65.71 a month by 2007.
But this is the worst-case scenario, said Jim Goodrich, district general
manager.
All of the projected rate increases discussed at the meeting assume that the
district will not receive any grants and that new developers will not move
into the area and share costs, he said.