First of two parts.
The City Council unanimously closed the Feb. 26 water and sewer rate hearing without voting on the proposed increases.
Instead, the council will hold a study session on the rates, on bonds, and on infrastructure projects before restarting the process.
That means another round of notices to the public and a new protest process at a date to be determined.
However, in a Friday, Feb. 23 email, Public Works Director Iris Lee said staff will recommend counting protest letters toward the new proceedings. According to Lee’s staff report for the Feb. 26 meeting, Seal Beach had received 300 protest letters when Lee prepared the report.
During this week’s hearing, members of the public called for more study, and looking at cutting costs. Staff had originally proposed having a new hearing in May, but instead the council decided to hold a special study session before starting the public hearing notice process again. Due to space limits, we’ll go into the details of the meeting next week.
Background
“Following the February 12, 2024 public hearing, City staff carefully evaluated the public comments and considered options to address those comments. Some speakers requested more time to evaluate the proposed rates adjustment and rate study,” Lee wrote.
Others requested additional notice about the proposed rates adjustment and information about how to submit a protest. Residents of Leisure World requested greater participation in the majority protest process,” according to the staff report by Public Works Director Iris Lee.
According to city staff, state law (Prop. 218) requires written protests from more than 50% of parcel owners to stop a City Council from imposing new water and sewer rates.
Fifty percent plus one would be 2,523 protest letters against increasing water rate and 2,347 protest letters against increasing sewer rate, according to a Feb. 1 email from Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos.
The staff report also addressed questions about the number of parcels in Leisure World.
There are 249 parcels in Leisure World, according to Lee’s report.
According to the report, the City Attorney’s Office spoke with the Golden Rain Foundation about Leisure World’s property ownership.
“In total, Leisure World is comprised of 249 parcels,” Lee wrote.
“The condominium is comprised of 126 individually-owned units, each of which is assigned an assessor’s parcel number,” Lee wrote.
“The Golden Rain Foundation is the only water and sewer customer within Leisure World, meaning that none of the residents have a water or sewer account and, therefore, are not directly responsible to pay the water or sewer charges to the City,” Lee wrote.
“Proposition 218 requires notices to be provided to ‘record owners’ of property that receive water and/or sewer service (‘Identified Parcels’). In addition, it requires the City to count written protests from record owners of Identified Parcels and persons directly responsible for the bill (‘customers’) in determining the existence,” Lee wrote.
“As the only customer, the Golden Rain Foundation may also submit a written protest in connection with one or more of the Identified Parcels,” Lee wrote.
“In order to better inform residents throughout Leisure World, City staff proposes to go beyond the requirements of Proposition 218 and provide a new notice to shareholders of co-op units, all condominium owners, each co-op Mutual, and the Golden Rain Foundation,” Lee wrote.
“The notice along with the Procedures will explain Proposition 218’s majority protest process as it applies to Leisure World. Specifically, that each Mutual may submit one written protest per Identified Parcel owned by the Mutual, each condominium owner may submit a written protest (because each condo is a separately owned parcel), and the Golden Rain Foundation may submit a written protest for each parcel it owns, and may also submit one or more written protest as a customer (only one written protest is counted per Identified Parcel in determining the existence of a majority protest),” Lee wrote.
