Water Board Members Balk at Proposed 9 Percent Rate Hike

Directors with the Santa Fe Irrigation District are mulling whether to impose a 9 percent rate increase on their customers in 2018, on the heels of 9 percent increases levied in 2016 and 2017. The proposed increase for 2018 is part of a three-year rate plan approved by the board in 2016. However, the board was urged at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 19, to hold off on the third installment of the rate plan, and instead consider changing the way it calculates rates for the largest water users, many of whom live in Rancho Santa Fe. (The district also serves Solana Beach and Fairbanks Ranch.)