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Council adopts ordinance codifying administrative-exhaustion rules for rate challenges
Summary
The Lincoln City Council adopted Ordinance 1087b to codify a state law requiring challengers to utility rates to raise all objections during the 45-day notice period, limiting later court challenges to the administrative record.
The Lincoln City Council on a unanimous vote adopted Ordinance 1087b, adding Lincoln Municipal Code section 19.90.05 to codify state law on exhaustion of administrative remedies for challenges to fees, charges and assessments.
City staff described the ordinance as a local implementation of a statute passed by the state legislature late last year that clarifies how residents must raise objections to proposed utility-rate structures during the Proposition 218 process. “This is nothing more than the codification in our municipal code of a bill that was passed by our state legislature in the fall of last year,” a staff member identified in the meeting as Christine said. “If you don't bring it up during that 45 day period, then you lose the right to raise that argument at a later point in time.”
The ordinance formalizes a process authorized by the state: during the 45-day implementation period after the city issues its notice for a proposed rate study, a resident who wishes to challenge the rate must file objections and articulate all bases for the challenge. The city must then provide a written response; any later judicial review, if filed within 180 days after adoption, is limited to the administrative record and does not permit new arguments that were not raised during the 45-day notice window.
Council members asked staff how the 45-day period is triggered. Staff explained the notice is sent as part of the Prop 218 rate-study process via multiple channels: a mailed notice included with utility statements, website postings and outreach meetings. “That notice is sent out separately as part of the rate process that's mailed to every single home,” staff member Nita said, adding that customers who pay online still receive a statement or electronic notice.
The measure was presented in a public hearing with no public testimony on the item. Council member motions to adopt the ordinance were seconded and approved in a roll-call vote. The ordinance also includes a finding that the action is exempt from CEQA environmental review.
Why it matters: The change narrows the scope of later legal challenges to rates by aligning the city's code with state law and clarifies procedures for residents who want to file grievances during the required notice period.
