Legal Alert: Court Rules Voter Initiative Cannot Force Water District to Set Rates Below Level Mandated by State Statute
From a Best Best & Krieger (BB&K) Legal Alert:
“In Mission Springs Water District v. Verjil, a California appellate court invalidated voter initiatives that had proposed to reduce a water district’s recently adopted rate increases and limit the amount the district could raise future rates to the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index. The court held that the local electorate does not have the power by initiative to set water rates so low that they are inadequate to pay the costs of the water district.
“In a prior decision, Bighorn Desert View Water Agency v. Verjil, the California Supreme Court held that the California Constitution expressly authorizes the use of an initiative to reduce or repeal water rates. The court, however, also held that an initiative that seeks to ‘impose voter-approval requirements for future increases in fees and charges’ was not authorized by the Constitution. The Supreme Court, however, declined to address whether the authorized initiative power is free of all limitations. … ”
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