Gov. Brown calls tiered water ruling 'a straightjacket' for conservation plans

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (KABC) -- The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Monday that San Juan Capistrano's tiered water-rates are unconstitutional because they were not directly tied to how much it costs to provide the water to consumers.

"You can't just set rates willy-nilly. You can't just come up with whatever you want and then reverse engineer it," said attorney Benjamin Benumof.

Benumof and attorney Mike Hensley filed the suit against the city and claimed the city violated Proposition 218.

"The tiers have to be cost-based. There has to be a link between the incremental cost and the prices of those higher tiers," Benumof said. "Otherwise, it's hidden taxation. It's illegal."

This puts pressure on water agencies that have to reduce water consumption, especially after Gov. Jerry Brown ordered water use cut by 25 percent.

Brown issued the following statement following the ruling: "The practical effect of this court's decision is to put a straitjacket on local government at a time when maximum flexibility is needed."

"The more and more water you use the more and more expensive it can be for us to get that, so we'll have to look at each particular instance here in Los Angeles," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Dozens of agencies all over the state use tiered rates including the Department of Water and Power. The department is considering expanding its tiers.

"You have to be able to justify the cost for those tiers and what the San Juan Capistrano case did is it invalidated the tier system in San Juan Capistrano," said L.A. Councilman Felipe Fuentes. "We think in Los Angeles that our tiers have got the belt and suspenders and we're going to double check."

Some worry this could prevent the idea of promoting conservation through higher pricing. Benumof and Hensley say they are in favor of conservation and never intended this ruling to prevent it.

"There are ways to have tiered systems and other pricing that promotes conservation yet still complies with 218," Hensley said.

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