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Leaders of the Castlewood Property Owners Association submitted 189 written objections to the county public works department’s proposed supplemental water service charge of $6,829.27 per household Thursday.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will review results of the vote at its meeting Tuesday (June 17) at 1221 Oak St. in Oakland. The objections represent 92% of the eligible votes, way over the 50% threshold to stop the charge from taking effect. The association filed suit against the county last year after the board unilaterally enacted the charge to cover what public works described as a budget shortfall.
When the parties settled the suit, Proposition 218 required the county to send letters to each property owner asking if they objected to the charge. The association’s board, early on, made its opposition to the charge clear and organized a campaign with block captains to collect objection letters that required original signatures from the property owner of record.
Rich Hammel, association president who delivered the forms with board colleagues Mike Mitchell and Doug Ricketts, said they received a written receipt as well as photographing the transaction. He was quite pleased with the organized effort to collect the objections.
The proposed supplemental charge would die with the objections, but that will not solve the problems the association has identified. The county public works dept. manages the county service area covering Castlewood’s water and sewer services as well as roads. The water charge was raised 172% on the current year’s property taxes.
The association members pay the highest water charges in the county, topping even the city of Pleasanton after its hotly debated increase.
Castlewood homeowners saw their water maintenance and operations charge soar from $1,089 to $2,958, or $338 for 330 units per year. City of Pleasanton rates, even after the hefty increases, are $180 while Dublin San Ramon Services District clients pay $169 and Fremont area users pay $168.
Given the hefty increase in water charges in the current fiscal year, the water fund likely will be solvent for the upcoming fiscal year that starts July 1. Hammel is concerned about the road charge that has not been increased in 10 years.
He pointed out that the county has to contract for outside agencies or companies to manage the water and sewer systems because it does not have its own staff. CalWater, the city of Pleasanton and two private firms have handled water and sewer management in recent years.
The December settlement agreement commits the county to work with the association to improve its own management capabilities or help it form its own community service area or potentially annex to Pleasanton. The public works director has said he would like to see the association move away from the county. Annexation to Pleasanton has been considered before and has not moved ahead. The city cut significantly from its upcoming two-year budget to bring it into balance so any potential annexation would have to be cash positive for the city.
A community service area would have directly elected members who would contract with a management company, but the county supervisors would retain final say over the budget. A key point of negotiation is what percentage of the property tax would be allocated to the service area versus retained to cover the cost of fire protection and the sheriff’s department. Directors have said that any changes likely will be more expensive and result in higher annual dues for homeowners.
Editor’s note: Correspondent Tim Hunt and his family live within the Castlewood service area.
First of all, keep in mind that Mr. Hunt lives in Castlewood. He has an income to afford its lifestyle.
Second, it’s easy for a writer to skew statistics. I live in Dublin. Although I have drought-tolerant landscape I still pay $293 for August 2024 but, thank goodness, it dropped to $152 for this past April largely to capturing rainwater. So, dear reader, what is my payment for water? Choose the statistic that you prefer. Certainly, Mr.Hunt has.
p.s., if you have not driven through Castlewood, please do so. It is lush.
Re: Dublin Mike’s assumption we live in Castlewood. We do not. We live below on Foothill Road in a home served by the water and sewer services.
“… live within the Castlewood service area…” Then, blame PW for its vagueness. They created more harm than good it appears. And, you could have been clearer.
Since 1970, I have intermittently engaged in research on water rights, monitoring Supreme Court decisions pertaining to this subject. I believe Castlewood residents can make a case for their water rights.
Supreme Court decisions, that municipalities, county governments, etc,. must pay a convenience fee to the property owner when those agencies use private property to manage rainfall.
Castlewood is 587 acres of mostly private property. The average yearly rainfall for this area is 14.6 inches. That equates to 707-acre feet of water. Rainfall percolating into ground reservoirs is considered a method of conveyance.
The government agency responsible for that water must pay a conveyance fee to the property owner. Residents in Pleasanton have 6.3 miles of concrete V-ditches on their properties which convey water to city culverts.
Years ago, I contacted the city attorney informing him he should pay me a conveyance fee. He dismissed my claim citing city code/ordnance. The U.S. Supreme Court since that initial contact with the city attorney has ruled in favor of my claim, in another remarkably similar case. I pointed this out to the city attorney, and he dismissed me again. I will wait a while longer to pursue it further,
Property rights and public takings: Under the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment, which requires just compensation when private property is taken for public use. The courts have ruled compensation must be made.
In 2024, another case ruling : The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Prohibit the government’s taking of private property without payment of just compensation. using private property to manage rainfall as ruled by the court, is “taking”.
The aquifer under Pleasanton, Castlewood, is the same aquifer in the Central Valley area used by farmers. The values attached to groundwater vary widely. Generally, is valued between $200-acre foot and $500-acre foot. In years of drought for farmers, it can be as high as $2200-acre foot.