Commentary: Metropolitan Water District soaks taxpayers with higher property taxes
In what may be an illegal tax increase, the board of the Metropolitan Water District just approved a two-year budget that doubles the property tax it collects in its six-county service area. MWD is a water wholesaler with 26 cities and water retailers as its customers. Through those entities, MWD supplies water to about 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. The new budget raises the wholesale rates by 8.5% in 2025 and then by 8.5% again in 2026. The rates for treated water will go up 11% and then 10%. Metropolitan said it has to raise rates and taxes to cover its operating costs because they’ve been selling less water, first because of drought, and then because of rain.
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