Council Again Delays Vote on DWP Rate Hike

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday again failed to reach a decision on a proposed water rate increase, even as Department of Water and Power management said they could reduce the requested rate hike to just 3.6%, from the initially proposed 11%.

Council members vigorously debated the proposal, but ultimately voted to delay the matter for an additional week. “Rather than take the chance of not coming to a consensus, let’s take a few days,” Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky said.

DWP General Manager Dan Waters said it would be possible to shave the rate request to 3.6%, but he added, “we will be doing almost no upgrading or improvements on the infrastructure in the city for the next 18 months under this proposal.”