Apple Valley’s Town Government is considering contracting water operations out to an outside contractor, or even to the City of Victorville.

That fact was revealed at the Town of Apple Valley’s first Environmental Impact Report (scoping meeting), included in the original EIR Initial Study‘s telling words:

There are several options for management of the system, including, but not limited to, management by the Town itself, management by a private contractor hired by the Town, or management by a qualified public agency.

At the July 7^th scoping meeting, the qualified public agency was determined to be none other than the City of Victorville.

Apple Valley’s Town Government Made a Slip in Transparency … It Won’t Happen Again!

So much for local control.

Apple Valley Ranchos has always, and will continue, to operate with LOCAL management and LOCAL employees.

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Tipster Leane Lee, who has filed suit against the Town of Apple Valley to gain access to records of payments made by the Town Attorney on behalf of the Town, sent us the document below that questions whether the Town is providing all the necessary information.

See below for a list of missing warrant registers in 2015.
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I read Mr. David Christman’s letter that tier pricing of water is in jeopardy. He apparently is referring to an appellate court ruling for a case originating in San Juan Capistrano. He is mistaken that it was tier rates only that were involved, however. The primary issue was a publicly controlled water company set tier rates without establishing the cost of service to justify the rate increases.

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Differences in Costs Affect Water Utilities’ Rates, and One Utility May Have Spent Millions of Ratepayer Funds Inappropriately.

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The Town has been spending thousands of dollars with its H2Ours campaign attempting to takeover a private utility in Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company.

One often repeated misnomer they don’t attempt to clear up is that they will have lower rates … BUT:

The Town of Apple Valley CANNOT & WILL NOT Lower Your Water Rates …

… But they will spend millions pretending they can.

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Apple Valley, CA — One of the Town of Apple Valley’s recent H2Ours pretexts for the hostile government seizure of Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company (AVRWC) is that under Town control of the water, the people have a greater say in setting water rates.

The Town Government has even disingenuously stated the citizens would have the right to vote on increases in water rates.

This is refuted both by Apple Valley’s own past history, and the very structure of Proposition 218.

What is Proposition 218?

According to CaliforniaTaxData.com: In November 1996, California voters passed Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act. This constitutional amendment protects taxpayers by limiting the methods by which local governments can create or increase taxes, fees, and charges without taxpayer consent. Proposition 218 requires voter approval prior to imposition or increase of general taxes, assessments, and certain user fees.

The citizens’ right to ‘vote on increases in water rates’

The Town’s assertion that the citizens would have the right to vote on increases in water rates implies that this would happen automatically. It doesn’t, and revisiting the Town’s 75 percent increases in sewer rates since 2008 proves that. (Sewer rates fall under the same Proposition 218 restrictions.)

During the last sewer rate increase imposed by the Apple Valley Town Council, the body spent 20 minutes discussing it. There was no public vote on whether or not to increase the sewer rates.

The increase before that? Four minutes …

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