Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.
Water rates for about a million consumers in Las Vegas and unincorporated parts of Clark County could soon be going up by as much as 30 percent or more under recommendations passed by a citizens panel Tuesday night.
The Las Vegas Valley Water District's Citizens Advisory Committee on water rates recommended increases for all consumers, with the typical family's water bill increasing by $4 or $5 a month, depending on the size of the water pipe delivering water to the home.
But overall, rates would go up by 30 percent, with heavier users shouldering a bigger burden than lighter water users. The recommendation is a tool to encourage faltering conservation efforts, with a target goal of 8 percent conservation compared with current use levels.
The rate increases would be in addition to emergency drought measures recommended by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which provides water to the municipal suppliers throughout Clark County. Those measures include stiff penalties for wasting water and landscaping restrictions.
The increases would be the first for the water district's users in seven years. The recommendations will go to the water district board -- which is the Clark County Commission -- for public comment and possible adoption in June.
If approved by the commissioners, the rates would go into effect in August or September and would first appear on water bills a month later.
Those who use larger quantities of water would pay more, while those who use minimum amounts would see very little change in their bills.
A typical "low user" household would see price increases of about $6 a year, or 50 cents a month. A "high user," a household that can use seven times as much per year, would pay almost $270 more over 12 months.
The heaviest residential users, who can average more than 49,000 gallons a month -- 10 times what the lowest users consume -- would see their bills go up by more than 40 percent, or about $38 per month, $456 a year.
Peggy Maze Johnson, a panel member and executive director of Citizen Alert, a statewide advocacy organization, said the difference in pricing is needed to encourage conservation across the board without unduly penalizing those who already use little water.
"What I was trying to achieve was keeping a lifeline rate," she said. "I thought there should be an increase, because there hasn't been one in seven years. But to conserve more becomes a hardship for some people at some point."
While truly minimal users would see their water rates go up by less than a buck a month, everybody would pay something more under the recommendations.
A typical golf course would see its rates increase by about $33,000 a month, according to a water district staff analysis of the recommendation. A large hotel would pay more than $59,000 more every month, and a commercial office complex would typically pay about $900 per month.
The actual price increases will vary for all users, based on the level of use and other factors. District Deputy General Manager Richard Wimmer said his agency will do extensive public education to help people figure the impact before the new rates are published.
The rate increase already has some opposition. Ken Mahal, president of the Nevada Seniors Coalition and a persistent critic of both the Las Vegas Valley Water District and its sister agency, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said he does not believe residents in Clark County waste water.
"I don't really believe in it," he said. "I don't even agree with their numbers."
He said 1997's quarter-cent sales tax, slated for water authority and sewer capital projects for 20 years, should rule out a rate increase for consumers because revenue from the tax continues to come in.
A decade ago a similar citizens committee set a goal of 25 percent conservation over 1990 levels by 2025. The early years of that effort were successful.
Water officials say they need a tool to encourage conservation. A decade ago, a similar citizens committee set a goal of 25 percent conservation over 1990 levels by 2025. The early years of that effort were successful.
But for the past four years conservation has leveled off. The conservation plan called for consumers to be at a 22 percent conservation level this year, but the rate is now about 16 percent.
Wimmer said that while conservation in the face of increasing demand and the drought is the primary motivation for the rate increases, the additional revenue would also turn around an operating deficit of about $40 million this fiscal year.
He said the district has enough cash reserves to delay any need for an immediate increase in water rates, but the agency would have had to come back in several years to ask for an increase for financial reasons.
The rate increase will make that request less likely, he said.
The 14-member citizens panel did not work out all of the details of the rate increase.
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