2010-07-27 Water Board Notice of Public Hearing

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June 21, 2010 WATER BOARD, COUNTY OF HAWAII NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Water Board of the County of Hawaii will hold a public hearing on the Proposed Water Rates at 9:30 a.m.,July 27,2010, Tuesday, at the Department of Water Supply,Hilo Baseyard Conference Room,889 Leilani Street,Hilo,Hawaii. Pursuant to Chapter 54, Part III, Hawaii Revised Statutes,the hearings will be for the purpose of hearing views and comments of all persons interested in the following proposals for increases in the water rate schedules to be applied by the Department of Water Supply, County of Hawaii,for all districts. THE WATER BOARD IS SOLICITING PUBLIC INPUT ON FOUR PROPOSED RATE STRUCTURES FOR GENERAL USE AND AGRICULTURE USE RATES. 1) OPTION "A" reflects graduated levels of annual rate increases for agriculture customers so that by July 1, 2014, agriculture customers are paying their "cost of service." 2) OPTION "B" makes no change to the current agriculture rate over a 5 year period. In order to generate sufficient revenues for the Department, the 3rd and 4th block rates for general use customers are greater than in Option A. 3) "CATTLEMAN'S OPTION" reflects a change in rate structure for agriculture customers from 1 consumption rate to 3 block rates. The first 2 blocks are the same as the first 2 blocks for general use customers in Options "A" and `B." The 3rd block increases the current $0.85 agriculture rate by 2 cents on an annual basis. 4) "MODIFIED CATTLEMAN'S OPTION" is similar to the "Cattleman's Option" except that annual 3rd block rate increases correspond to the system-wide percentage rate increase. Please be aware that these are alternative proposals. The Water Board may adopt either of the 4 proposals or a different set of rates based on public input. At its last meeting on June 15, 2010, the Water Board adopted Option B, which became effective July 1, 2010.