Cambrian letters

Thursday, Jun. 11, 2009

Viewpoint: CCSD’s cost structure seems out of line; explanation needed

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When we compare Cambria Community Services District rates to Guadalupe, a similarly sized community, CCSD rates are too high and we need to look at the overhead and adjust overhead before we accept a rate increase.

I was able to attend a CCSD meeting in late March when they were discussing the water and sewer rate increases and how these funds need to be self-supporting (normally these meeting are held at 12:30 p. m., so I can never attend, why not have a few at 6:30 p. m.?).

What I do not understand is how CCSD can be losing money when other communities of similar size make money at lower rates. For example:

CCSD vs. Guadalupe

Water per units 4.94 vs. 3.25

Sewer 43.49 vs. 24.2

Garbage 100.2 vs. 24.01

Now they are asking for a 9.75 percent increase in water and 15 percent for sewer and say they must have it or they will loss money. Is the problem that water is too expensive? Or that the overhead is too high and care has not been given in this area to control costs?

Lets look at Cambria (population estimated at 6,597 in 2007), compared to Guadalupe (population estimated at 6,659 in 2007):

CCSD est. vs. Guadalupe

Full Time Emps. 35 vs. 37

Police Dept. 0 vs. 17

Fire Dept. 1 vs. 4

Other Admin. 34 vs. 16

Other administrative services includes: Wastewater treatment plant, building and planning, water department (including billing and collections), payroll, streets, parks and recreation, finance and administration.

Guadalupe has a full wastewater treatment plant, water department that bills monthly and sends out its own utility bills, streets, building and inspection department, payroll is done in-house, etc.

If the above is correct, could the problem be in the overhead and the compensation that is being paid? I know that there is a contract in place with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for CCSD, but Guadalupe has the same union (SEIU), only with much lower rates as far as compensation, health care cost and pension Costs.

Maybe CCSD did a poor job of negotiating the contract and how they expect the residents of Cambria to pay for it.

Maybe CCSD needs to take a hard look at the overhead and possibly restructure, eliminate redundant positions and get staff to earn their pay before they come and ask the residents to dig deeper into their wallets to pay for an inefficient structure.

I urge the residents of Cambria to return their rate protest letter saying “NO.” Make the CCSD re-look at their structure and make cuts like every other community has and let’s hold accountable those who are making the wrong decisions.

Here is a quick comparison of financial information:

As can be seen salaries, PR and benefits are higher for CCSD than for Guadalupe. PR and benefits as a percentage of salaries is about 15 percent higher in Cambria, not to mention the higher salary numbers for water, fire and the wastewater treatment plant. I do not have all the numbers from CCSD, but I would like to see an explanation before we just accept higher rates.

Al Hernandez is a resident of Cambria.