FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — A small community in the Fresno County foothills is facing a 300 percent increase in its water and sewer rates.
Shaver Springs near Auberry has not seen an increase in 18 years, but the county-managed water district says it needs to raise the rates to make ends meet.
The average water rate right now is about $49 a month. That will go up to $85 a month. The sewer rate is just $25 now, but it will go up to $110 a month.
The county says the increases are necessary to keep up with operating costs – the people who live here say they just can’t afford it.
“Adding these things up, it just starts to become – which straw is going to break the camel’s back?” Shaver Springs resident Michael Davidson said.
In a tough economy, Davidson says he and his neighbors feel the proposed water and sewer rate hikes might break the bank.
They’re doing all they can to save water and, in turn, save money.
“Now it’s like, okay, you’re putting on the water saver shower heads, you’re making sure any little bit of line that’s ever been put in you’ve capped it off and make sure there’s no leaks or risk of leaks,” Davidson said.
2007 was the last time water and sewer rates were increased in Shaver Springs.
A lot has changed since then, and the district has gone through all of its reserve funds.
“Over the last five years, during COVID, we’ve seen costs go through the roof. Costs for chemicals, chlorine, costs for electricity,” Fresno County supervisor Nathan Magsig said.
The community, tucked in the hills off Highway 168, is in Magsig’s district.
He says he understands the rate hike is tough for residents in Shaver Springs, and that the county will do what it can to help.
“We are prepared, after these new rates are adopted, to reach back out to the state to ask for additional subsidy and additional financing from the state to help buy down these rates a little bit,” Magsig said.
The neighborhood is organizing and encouraging everyone to speak up.
“Residents have to approve these rates; if they choose not to approve the rates, the county will have to use some extraordinary measures because, again, the district is already in the hole,” Magsig said.
If residents don’t approve the rates, the state would likely seize control of the district and force through a rate increase, possibly even higher than what’s currently proposed.
Davidson says he and his neighbors feel stuck and are reaching out to lawyers for help.
The community meeting will be held at Pine Ridge Elementary School on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. as residents hope to discuss other options.
