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Tell MMWD to Start Over with a Plan That's Fair, Affordable & Has Community Support
CO$T is working flat out to send a strong message to Marin Municipal Water District that it should abandon its current brute force approach to enacting a rate/ fee hike that is nearly universally viewed as unfairly apportioned and just too large.
VOLUNTEERS, PLEASE STEP UP!
YOU can help. We need leaders and volunteers to ensure a lot of ratepayer protest forms are sent to the district – and organize other protest activities. There are many ways to help: inform the public via social media; distribute and collect protest forms; send letters to the editor; organize protests; speak up during public comment at MMWD meetings.
You're invited! Attend our Volunteer and Organizer meeting Tuesday April 30, 6PM, 90 Hawthorne Avenue, San Anselmo (near Sir Francis Drake and Butterfield)
If you have questions, ideas, or want to pitch in but can't attend the meeting, send a message via Contact Us at COSTMarin.org
SEND IN A PROTEST FORM IF YOU OBJECT!
Every MMWD ratepayer who thinks the proposed rate and fee hike is unfair should submit a protest form.
DO IT TODAY!
Protests don’t count unless they are received prior to the May 28th hearing at which the Board votes to approve the proposed rates. It takes 50% plus 1 of all ratepayers to protest in order to defeat the proposed rates. That’s a nearly-impossible hurdle. But a flood of protests sends a strong message to the board: Start over. Reconsider the fee hike plan. That’s what the usually conservative Marin IJ Editorial board advocates. Marin's City/Town Councils are also concerned.
If you’re an MMWD ratepayer you should have recently received a legally required notice -- of the rate increase and new capital maintenance fee -- dressed up as a PR flyer. The district’s mailer has complicated instructions about how ratepayers can protest. CO$T created a form that makes it easier: You must print it out, fill it in completely, and make sure your hard copy (email doesn’t count) is received by the water District in time..
You can "select" and "print" our Protest Form (below) or CLICK HERE FOR A PDF.
MMWD RATE PROTEST FORM
MUST BE RECEIVED PRIOR TO THE CLOSE OF THE MAY 28, 2019 MMWD PUBLIC HEARING
As a Marin Municipal Water District ratepayer, I hereby protest and oppose the proposed rates, fees, and charges detailed in the April 2019 proposition 218 notice.
Name of MMWD customer (property owner or renter being directly billed for water)*:
____________________________________________________________
Signature of record property owner or MMWD customer who’s billed for water*:
____________________________________________________________
Address of property OR MMWD account number*:
____________________________________________________________
*Required information. Protests that are incomplete or contain errors don’t count.
SEND OR HAND DELIVER WRITTEN PROTESTS TO:
Board Secretary
Marin Municipal Water District
220 Nellen Avenue, Corte Madera, CA 94925
This Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers created this form to make it easy for ratepayers to file an accurate, official, timely protest. Let’s flood MMWD with protest forms so they start over with a fair, transparent plan. (Only one protest form per customer counts.)
Don’t delay. Protest today!
OPPORTUNITIES TO SPEAK UP, AMPLIFY THE MESSAGE, AND LEARN MORE
In addition to submitting a protest form, please flood every available channel with your protest message. Reach out via social media, letters to the editor, emails to MMWD board, pleas to your town council to stand up to MMWD, and whatever else you can think of.
Here are some upcoming opportunities to speak up during public comment period and get a Protest Form from CO$T.
MMWD Special Board Meeting, Thursday April 25, 1PM, 220 Nellen Ave, Corte Madera.
Despite having sent out legally required notices of the proposed plan, MMWD continues to tinker with it. Possible changes include capital maintenance fee concessions to certain ratepayers; whether the CMF will go on the bimonthly bill for a while or permanently (this affects renters, who don't get billed if the charge is billed via the property tax); phase in of the new CMF; possible use of some bond financing, which would mitigate the size of the CMF.
The final plan may placate some ratepayers, but if so, means other folk’s payments comprise a larger percentage of the total costs. Is this fair? Most ratepayers think the only fair approach is to tie the CMF to water consumption.
Attend the Board meeting and speak during public comment.
MMWD public workshops (these are PR cum outreach events).
CO$T volunteers will be handing out literature and protest forms near the entrance: - Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Thursday April 25, 5-8PM; Albert Boro Community Center, 50 Canal Street, San Rafael, Weds May 15, 5-8PM
Marin Coalition Lunch: May 3, 11:30AM:
Speakers will be MMWD General Manager Ben Horenstein and CO$T Director Paul Premo. Register here or pay at the door (Club at McGinnis Golf Course, 350 Smith Ranch Road, San Rafael).
MMWD rate hearing – May 28, 7PM, 220 Nellen Ave, Corte Madera. The board votes on rate approval.Here’s a flyer you can hand out or use to frame your arguments:
CO$T Supporters Tell MMWD: Start Over!
The Community Demands a Better Plan, in which….
What’s wrong with the Current Proposed Rate and Fee Hike?
- New Capital Maintenance Fee is based on meter size, not usage. THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW OF THE PROPOSED PLAN. It causes a HUGE % increase in low water users’ payments. PG&E doesn’t bill on panel size.
- New Capital Maintenance Fee is based on meter size, not usage. THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW OF THE PROPOSED PLAN. It causes a HUGE % increase in low water users’ payments. PG&E doesn’t bill on panel size.
- Special concessions favoring certain customers (e.g. private fire lines exempt) likely proliferate as MMWD band- aids a flawed plan.
- CMF is unnecessarily big because MMWD plans to stop using bonds for infrastructure. Bonds spread capital costs over time, lowering rates
- Developed in the dark, without input from those most affected
- CMF may go on the property tax bill, so the water bill won’t look even scarier; it's unclear whether or not renters will be billed. Water bills will ALSO go up 4%/year on top of BIG hikes since 2015. Runaway pensions, health insurance & high salaries aren’t addressed
- CMF on tax bill crowds out future school, park, and fire safety tax measures.
CO$T Offers a Fair Solution
- Tie CMF entirely to usage. Put it on water bills. Raise or lower CMF annually to deliver a predetermined $ amount over 10 years
- Conduct an inclusive, transparent process to vet the new rate/ fee approach and the projects it funds. THEN mail new prop 218 notices
- That’s all! Our approach is simple, fair, and legal.
Plan B: Term Limit MMWD’s Board. Do they represent YOU?
Tell MMWD: Slow Down. Come Up with a Better Plan!
Volunteer, Donate, Learn More at CostMarin.org