Which Montecito water customers should bear the greatest share of the $4.3 million yearly cost of purchasing Santa Barbara water for the next 50 years?
A draft overview of potential water rate increases, presented by the Montecito Water District board at a sparsely attended public workshop on Monday, included scenarios that would raise the monthly service charge for a ¾-inch water meter, standard for many single-family homes, from $45 now to up to $128 by 2024. Higher fixed charges would provide more fiscal stability for the district, the presentation showed, buts mall users would be hit with larger bills.
The Montecito water board wants to buy enough water from Santa Barbara to meet about a third of the community’s annual demand. The city would produce the extra supply at its $72 million desalination plant, but the water shipped to Montecito would come from other city sources as well. The Montecito water board is scheduled to adopt rate hikes to pay for Santa Barbara water next April; they would go into effect on May 1.