Abstract
In 2007, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Calabasas, California, successfully enacted major revenue increases of almost 60% to be implemented over five years. The increases, which were required to maintain financial solvency during multiple capital programs and to enhance customer equity, did not generate a single complaint from the district's 21,000 water and sewer customers. Public outreach and attentiveness to customer concerns generated understanding, appreciation, and goodwill that translated into acceptance of the increases. With the last major rate update in 1996, the consultant‐supported rate study team implemented technical rate‐making methods described in AWWA Manual M1 (AWWA, 2000) and an AWWA study on water rates (AWWA, 2004). The district responded to the concerns of customers and the district's board of directors and demonstrated that the right way to seek funding augmentation is to reach out to an informed community. This article describes the successful multistep outreach process.
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