Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Fullerton Water System Study Session - MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

Below is a press release from the City of Fullerton.  Read it carefully and mark you calendar.
Also, here is how much money has been skimmed from the Water Fund:

 
Fiscal                              (Water Fund)
Year     Franchise Fee     Water Sales                
2001      $1,435,202          $14,342,888
2002      $1,558,578          $15,619,444
2003      $1,576,091          $15,676,902
2004      $1,775,133          $17,800,172
2005      $1,771,294          $17,499,462
2006      $2,065,417          $20,587,913
2007      $2,287,693          $22,938,001
2008      $2,278,041          $22,893,749
2009      $2,388,515          $23,967,172
2010      $2,479,930          $24,796,981
2011      $2,532,595          $25,295,986



PRESS RELEASE -
All things water in the City of Fullerton will be the focus of a special City Council study session Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012.

The session, which will be open to the public, will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the new Conference Center at the Fullerton Main Library, 353 W. Commonwealth Ave., adjacent to Fullerton City Hall.

David Schickling, Water System Manager for Fullerton, said the workshop will cover all aspects of the City’s water utility, ranging from where Fullerton gets its water supplies to how that water is delivered to residences and businesses in the City.

The session will also examine capital improvement needs for the aging water system.

The study session, which was requested by the Council, will be a prelude to the reopening of consideration of a water rate study which was brought to Council this past July.

“The Council took no action on the study then and, instead, directed that further study be done – specifically on the public notification process and the legality of the ‘in-lieu franchise/property tax’ transfer of funds from the Water Fund to the General Fund,” Schickling explained, noting the in-lieu franchise tax has been in place since 1968.

“The results of this expanded study are nearly complete and will be available for public review beginning with a meeting of the Council-appointed Water Rate Study Ad Hoc Committee in February.” That meeting, the date of which has not yet been firmed up, will be open to the public.

Once the committee has reviewed the results of the new study and made recommendations on it, the matter is tentatively scheduled to come to the City Council for consideration in March.

Further information about the study session or the water rate study may be obtained by calling the Office of Water Engineering at Fullerton City Hall at (714) 738-6845.

Persons requiring special accommodations to attend the study session the workshops are asked to notify the Office of Water Engineering prior to Jan. 10.

2 comments:

  1. So the in-lieu franchise tax is just a way to transfer money to the general fund? Is it supposed to cover the cities administrative costs for administering the Water Systems entity? Or is there some stated purpose for the transfer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark, the stated purpose I have been told for transferring money out of the Water Fund is "because we can." That answer makes the transfers illegal. The City must articulate and account for all funds attributed to the Water Fund. Current practice is to skim 10% and deposit it into the General Fund regardless of the actual administrative costs that are above and beyond what are currently being charged.

    If (and that's a very BIG if) the in-lieu franchise tax was suppose to cover administrative costs, City Hall has failed miserably. The money has always been dumped into the General Fund.

    City staff have told me repeatedly that they are looking at creative ways to "charge the Water Fund" so that removing the in-lieu franchise tax has no effect on the General Fund.

    Among these are leasing back to you and I the land which the reservoirs sit. The City wants to bill the Water Fund for leases that do not exist and cannot exist unless the Water System is made into it's own autonomous water utility like any other water district. The only purpose in doing so is so that City Hall can continue to live beyond its means.

    This will eventually force you and I to pay higher water rates to cover bond debt that will be needed to make the repairs and replace old water lines. We are way behind the replacement curve and any further delay by City Hall means exponentially higher costs.

    City Hall (council and department heads) need to keep their hands off the Water Fund.

    ReplyDelete

Greg Sebourn

The Beauty of a Storm

The Beauty of a Storm
Orange County, Ca.

My Grandma - A Eulogy

LET'S TALK ABOUT 1914 FOR A MOMENT.



FOR STARTERS, GRANDMA WAS BORN TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1914 IN HER FAMILY'S ATWOOD RANCH HOUSE.



IT IS WORTH NOTING THOSE ALSO BORN IN 1914:

JACK LALANNE

JOE DIMAGGIO

DANNY THOMAS



AND WHO DIED IN 1914:

JOHN MUIR, THE FAMOUS NATURALIST FOR WHICH NUMEROUS ROADS, PARKS, HOTELS, AND NATURE RESERVES ARE NAMED.



IT IS ALSO WORTH NOTING THAT IN 1914 WOODROW WILSON SIGNS MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION AND BABE RUTH MAKES HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT WITH THE RED SOX. MOTHER'S DAY AND BASEBALL- TWO OF MY FAVORITES!! (PERHAPS HER NICKNAME "BABE" CAME FROM BABE RUTH???)



GRANDMA WAS BORN INTO A PERIOD OF TIME FILLED WITH TURMOIL. IN JUNE OF 1914 ARCHDUKE FRANZS FERDINAND WAS ASSASSINATED. WITHIN ONE MONTH WORLD WAR I RAGED ACROSS EUROPE. TWO DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH HOWEVER, GERMAN AND BRITISH TROOPS INTERRUPTED WWI TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. (PERHAPS THEY PAUSE KNOWING THAT A GREAT WOMAN WAS BORNE) WORLD WAR I CONTINUED UNTIL THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES IN 1919.



ALTHOUGH SHE WAS ONLY 5 YEARS OLD, SHE SAW THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED AND THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS APPROVED BY THE U.S. CONGRESS GUARANTEEING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN TO VOTE.



SHE LIVED THROUGH MANY NOTABLE EVENTS. LIKE THE 1933 LONG BEACH EARTHQUAKE OR WHEN ATWOOD FLOODED ALONG WITH MOST OF ORANGE COUNTY IN 1938 AND THE FLOOD-WATERS CLAIMED MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE, 43 OF WHICH WERE FROM ATWOOD! ALL OF THIS DURING A TIME THAT WE READ ABOUT IN SCHOOL AND KNOWN AS "THE GREAT DEPRESSION". SOMEWHERE IN ALL OF THAT SHE FOUND THE LOVE OF HER LIFE, GRANDPA LEO, GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL, GOT MARRIED, AND HAD KIDS!



THEN THERE WAS WORLD WAR II. FROM PEARL HARBOR TO HIROSHIMA, GRANDMA WAS RAISING MY UNCLE BOB AND MOM ARLINE. WITH AIR-RAID SIRENS AND BLACKOUTS SHE WAS A WIFE AND MOTHER. WHAT A TIME TO RAISE CHILDREN! I BET GRANDMA'S PARENTS WERE ABEL TO TELL HER A THING OR TWO ABOUT RAISING KIDS IN WARTIME.



GRANDMA WAS THERE WHEN THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA HELD THEIR 3RD ANNUAL NATIONAL JAMBOREE IN 1953. SHE SAW AIRBASES OPEN IN '42 AND CLOSE IN '99. SHE WATCHED WALTER KNOTT START UP HIS BERRY FARM AND WALT DISNEY TURN ORANGE GROVES AND STRAWBERRY PATCHES INTO DISNEYLAND!



SHE SAW THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE FADE AWAY INTO HISTORY AND SPACE TRAVEL EXPLODE BEFORE HER WITH THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. JUST IMAGINE HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. FROM TUBE RECTIFIERS TO SUPERCONDUCTORS; FROM TRANS-ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH CABLES TO SATELLITE TV.



SHE SAW MORE IN HER 93 YEARS THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER READ ABOUT, LET ALONE LIVE THROUGH!



OF THOSE 93 YEARS IT IS MY HONOR TO HAVE BEEN HER GRANDSON FOR 35 OF THEM. SHE WAS MY MOTHER WHEN MOM HAD TO WORK. SHE WIPED MY NOSE AND PUT FOOD IN MY MOUTH. SHE LET ME PLAY WITH GRANDPA EVEN THOUGH SHE NEEDED HIM TO TAKE HER TO THE STORE. SHE WAS MY GRANDMA AND I WILL MISS HER IMMENSELY.



JUST LOOK AROUND THIS ROOM; SHE DID THIS. SHE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE INTO THIS WORLD AND TOGETHER TODAY. THIS IS HER LEGACY.



A Dedication To My Loving Wife, Stacey. Thank you for all you do for me!

Brad Paisley - I Thought I Loved You Then


I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
3 weeks later in the front porch light taking 45 min to kiss you goodnight
I hadn’t told you yet but I thought I loved you then

Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.

I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then

Chorus
Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea
Stronger than it’s ever been
We’ve come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then.

I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can’t see is how I’m ever gonna love you more
But I’ve said that before.

Now you’re my whole life now you’re my whole world
I just can’t believe the way I feel about you girl
Well look back some day at this moment that we’re in
And I'll look at you and say I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then...