Atascadero water company seeking 25% rate increase

April 12, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

In an attempt to deal with rising costs and the need for capital improvements, the Atascadero Mutual Water Company is proposing a 25% increase in water rates for 2024 and then 4% each year after that.

At its meeting on the afternoon of April 12, the water company’s board is scheduled to discuss the proposed rate increase. A portion of the increase is slated to be used to offset increased costs for electricity, natural gas and health insurance.

In addition, the largest increase in costs is related to the construction of a treatment plant to remove polyfluoroalkyl substances, as required by the California State Water Resources Control Board. It is estimated the facility will cost approximately $15 million to construct.

The increase is expected to raise the average cost to a single-family home in Atascadero from $59 to $73.50 per month.


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So, Waste Management, a giant corporation, can dump the cities dump runoff into the Salinas; which is a factual source if anyone read the PDF the city dispersed, can just act like they have no responsibility? So the city would rather screw it’s rate payers of a publicly owned company vs the Criminal; the city dump? The dumps runoff, and a few other things; MAINLY THE DUMP HERE FOLKS, INCLUDING PASO AND TEMPLETON. PFAS and PFOS have been around since the 50s. The city is seeing many major corporations, but not the dump who did a trash job at burring trash and pretending it’s go away, also releasing toxic methane in mass.


So, we get to pay to remove the PFAS from our water? Maybe CalFire should pay to build that water treatment facility, since it is almost certainly the copious amounts of fire retardant foam that have been sprayed all over the central coast that has caused this recent increase in PFAS in our water.


So where can I apply for my SS increase to cover the rising costs of electricity,health care, natural gas reg gas,food and many other items . No where in site but Companies can always increase there prices to cover these costs Biden fools say inflation is at 5% so take 20% off your increase and I may go for it


Having your own system, where possible, is much cheaper for the long term and greatly increases the property value for those who are flippers.


How much have compensation costs increased within the water company? What has the water company done recently to reduce their operating costs?


I’ve compiled a list of public projects that have been completed at it under the promised estimate.

Here it is: