On Friday, the Yolo Ratepayers for Affordable Public Utility Services (YRAPUS) filed an amended lawsuit against the City of Davis with the Yolo Superior Court.
YRAPUS initially filed a lawsuit in January, alleging that the city isn’t paying for the water it uses for city facilities, and the current rate structure, the rate structure that will be effective May 1 and the consumption-based fixed rate structure that will be effective Jan. 1, 2015 are unconstitutional under Proposition 218.
Prop. 218 was passed in 1996 and states that ratepayers can’t be charged more than the cost of supplying water to their respective properties.
According to The Davis Enterprise, the new lawsuit additionally claims that the city is charging ratepayers unfairly for wastewater services, as well as not paying for the wastewater services it uses for facilities.
Former city council member and current Davis resident Michael Harrington represents YRAPUS, and former president of Yolo Taxpayers Association John Munn is a plaintiff.
According to Harrington, the amended lawsuit will be served sometime this week.
On March 19, Davis City Council approved water rates that will rise on May 1 and for the next five years. Residents can expect for water bills to be tripled by 2018. This will help the city pay off its $113 million part of the $245 million surface water project.
The surface water project, also known as Measure I, was approved by Davis voters on March 5. It will take surface water from the Sacramento River, treat it and then pump it to Davis, UC Davis and Woodland.
— Claire Tan
