Fee increase could sink water, wastewater budgets

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published May 3, 2006 at 9:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

A possible ballot initiative to block future fee increases for San Diego city residents threatens to sink the water and wastewater departments' budget. A critic of city finances made the threat at tod

A possible ballot initiative to block future fee increases for San Diego city residents threatens to sink the water and wastewater departments' budget. A critic of city finances made the threat at today's city council budget hearings. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The city of San Diego's water and sewer departments are both violating state and federal regulations and need millions of dollars for upgrades.

The city cannot borrow money on the bond market, and private financing depends on rate increases. But Carl Demaio of the watchdog group The Performance Institute says if the council votes for a rate increase he'll start collecting signatures for a ballot measure this November

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Demaio: "I stand here today to give you notice taxpayers are turning off the money spigot."

Demaio cites a grand jury report showing inappropriate use of water and sewer funds. Water officials say since the city couldn't borrow money, some dollars earmarked for bond repayments were used instead on urgent capitol project upgrades.

The mayor's water and sewer audit will announce findings within six weeks . Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.