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Carpinteria board splits on whether CAP costs should be on water bills or property taxes; staff directed to analyze hybrid option
Summary
Board debated whether to collect Advanced Purification Project (CAP) charges via water bills, the property tax roll, or a hybrid. Directors voiced competing priorities — transparency and visible conservation signals for water-bill proponents versus linking long-term beneficiaries via property taxes — and asked staff to analyze a blended approach before a June decision.
District staff framed three collection methods to fund CAP: place charges entirely on the water bill, place them entirely on the property tax roll, or adopt a hybrid that puts debt on property tax and operations on the water bill. Staff emphasized the numbers shown were preliminary estimates and that a formal cost‑of‑service study would be required to finalize rates and allocations.
Examples presented as illustrations showed a typical single‑family 3/4" meter might face roughly $560/year if the debt were on the tax roll and about $300/year under a blended approach; staff cautioned these were illustrative, not final figures. Staff also noted practical complications: property‑tax assessments require parcel‑to‑account mapping (HOAs, multifamily and mobile-home parks complicate automatic assignment) and water‑bill metrics change with meter size and usage.
Public comments filed online (18 submissions and three calls) skewed toward placing charges on the water bill for transparency and monthly visibility; however, some residents and several directors argued that property owners (including nonresident owners) are long‑term beneficiaries of higher property values and should bear a share of capital costs.
Board members debated policy tradeoffs. Supporters of the water‑bill approach argued it preserves the conservation signal of the monthly bill and gives renters direct visibility of charges; proponents of the tax approach pointed to fairness for long‑term property beneficiaries and potential tax‑deductibility questions to explore. Several directors favored a hybrid approach (capital/debt on property tax; operating and O&M charges on the water bill) as a compromise.
After discussion the board directed staff to perform the data work to analyze either the blended approach or the tax‑roll option (including parcel‑to‑account mapping, impacts by customer class, and legal/tax questions) and to return in June with refined methodology and numbers. No binding rate decision was made at this meeting.
