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LAFCO
Marin LAFCO issues its report on Marin wastewater treatment agencies for public comment
California state regulations require Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCOs) to regularly prepare municipal service reviews in conjunction with updating each local agency’s sphere of influence. The legislative intent of the municipal service review and its five-year cycle requirement is to proactively inform LAFCOs in fulfilling their prescribed regional growth management duties in all 58 counties in California. However, this seemingly innocuous review of operations has more recently led to plans for consolidation on the grounds that the elimination of duplication of management and operations costs can lead to savings for rate payers.
Make your voices heard: The public comment period for this study ends May 31, 2017
While there is no doubt that consolidation might be desirable in many instances in order to save money, which could be passed on to rate payers, the reality in recent years, has proven to be something quite different. Cost savings have rarely accrued to rates paid but more often gone to higher salaries and greater retirement benefits for agency employees, and toward the cost of the growing and unsustainable unfunded pension liabilities for former employees.
In addition and more importantly, the consolidations often lead to the suggestion that existing agencies, which are governed by board members elected to their positions by the general public, be replaced with greatly reduced Joint Powers Authority structure that removes direct local control by rate payers.
This study clearly states that it results will be used by LAFCO in
(a) guiding subsequent sphere of influence updates, (b) informing future boundary changes, and – if merited – (c) initiating government reorganizations, such as special district formations, consolidations, and or dissolutions.
Proposed consolidation and dissolution of agenciesEven though the study shows that wastewater agencies in Marin are generally in very sound financial condition, two of the proposals that have come out of this study are:
A. To dissolve the Murray Park Sewer Maintenance District and the San Quentin Village Sewer Maintenance District and concurrently place their respective service areas in the Ross Valley Sanitary District, either by consolidation or annexation, and
B. To reorganize and consolidate public wastewater services in Central Marin and most pertinently among agencies in the Ross Valley and San Rafael Creek Watersheds.
While the first idea might make sense to reduce management redundancy in smaller agencies, and improve overall services, the second is another thing entirely. What is unspoken here is that since its creation, it appears to have been the goal of Central Marin Sanitation Services, which is an unelected "Joint Powers Authority," to absorb other local agencies that it views as competition for services fees, such as RVSD, which is governed by a board directly elected by the rate payers.
That said, there is considerable risk at this time that current rate payers in the Ross Valley Sanitary District's service area will lose direct, voting control of their wastewater treatment agency in the near future.
Those who have a vested interest in that outcome would be wise to make their opinions known now.
View the Study and comment online HERE
Send in written comments:
To: Keene Simonds