Vote "Yes" On Measure B

Left: Marc's monthly Sacramento residential utility bill, with fitted curves (lower two lines; amounts in dollars), vs. the Consumer Price Index (July 1983 = 100), with fitted curves (upper two lines).


Generally, I'm a pretty predictable lefty type, but on recent increases in Sacramento utility rates, I'm swinging right this election. This is why.

Last January, I did an analysis showing that, since 1997 (when I started paying the bill directly and started paying attention), Sacramento utility rates have always increased faster than the cost-of-living. There may have been good reasons for this small disparity (e.g., garbage was increasingly shipped to Nevada during this period).

The difference between the increase in utility rates and the consumer price index (CPI) was rather small, however (1 to 2%), until the most recent recession started. Then, WHAM! Now, things are hog-wild out-of-control, and I don't know precisely why (now increasing at more than 6% difference).

Left: Annual rate of increase of Marc's monthly Sacramento residential utility bill, and the Consumer Price Index (July 1983 = 100).








Results seem to fall naturally into four periods:

• December 1997 through December 2004: The monthly utility bill is increasing faster than the CPI by about 1.3%;
• December 2004 through September 2008: The monthly utility bill increase accelerates, so that it is increasing faster than the CPI by about 2.3%;
• September 2008 through December 2008: That brief period when it all hit the fan - the monthly utility bill didn't change, but the CPI collapsed, so that the difference in rates is about 12%;
• December 2008 through the present: The monthly bill is increasing faster than the CPI by about 6.3%.

These numbers are unsustainable and provocative and it's no surprise a utility customer rebellion is imminent in Sacramento. Why are rates increasing so radically, when recent efforts, like the rollout of green waste containers, is aimed at a slow reduction in customer service?

By and large, the candidates are loathe to address this issue. For District 5, both Patrick Kennedy and Jay Schenirer do not want Measure B to pass, because it would deprive them of discretion once they assume office. Nevertheless, Measure B is not a radical solution: not like Proposition 13 was at the state level. Measure B merely arrests the rate increases and ties them to the CPI - velvet handcuffs, if you will.

In "Inside The City", Craig Powell has been writing all year regarding utility rates. In the September issue, he writes:

City officials are running a scare campaign against Measure B, misusing your tax and utility dollars to campaign against a citizens’ initiative. The council has even gone so far as to approve grossly confusing ballot language for Measure B with the cynical hope that confused voters will oppose the measure. The city’s improper campaign activities only make the case for Measure B that much more compelling. Measure B is critically needed to rein in a city government that is becoming less and less responsive to the public interest.

Will canceling a 9.2 percent rate hike that is only three months old “bankrupt” city utilities as critics would have you believe? Result in environmental disasters? Lead to systematic breakdowns in basic utilities services? Of course not. It will, however, require city utilities to operate more efficiently, to rein in exploding employee benefit costs and unwarranted pay hikes that have been the prime drivers of higher rates, and to bring to a halt, once and for all, the illegal raids on utility funds that have been driving up rates for years, as recently reported by the
Sacramento County grand jury.

For myself, I'm not worried about any 'illegal raids' on utility funds (they apparently were used to deal with illegal dumping - a problem that will always be with us). I am worried, however, about an unsustainable course of conduct by the City of Sacramento. It's got to stop! Better to stop now!

Vote "Yes" on Measure B!