Category: Overpriced

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The Best Response to a Proposed City of Tustin 30 Percent Water Rate “Increase” – Starts with an Attorney – Then an Full Audit of the City of Tustin Water Service – and Possibly a Class Action Lawsuit – It’s been done in Several Other Cities in Orange County. As a Goal – I would Also Expect to be able to Achieve a 30 Percent Rate “Decrease”. We Saved Water and We Saved Money During the Drought – and the City of Tustin Wants to Claw Back Money that We Worked Very Hard to Save.

Editorial –

I think that an Audit of Tustin Water Services would not only find enough – Waste – Inefficiency – Overtime Fraud – Pension Spiking – Contractor Fraud and Overpricing to “eliminate” any Need for a Rate increase – but as a Goal – I would Also Expect to be able to Achieve a 30 Percent Rate “Decrease”.

I’m willing to put up the first one or two thousand dollars to retain a Law firm to get started – later being reimbursed by Taxpayers / Ratepayers who I have No Doubt will be Thrilled with the aspect of an Outside Audit. The Law firm will communicate on behalf of Rate[payers – Making Claims and Demands – the Ratepayers will be Happy to Pay for all of this directly coming form the City of Tustin and Tustin Water Services Budget.

Spending time at Public Hearings and Watching Power Point Presentations is Frivolous as Public Employees and their Council Rubber Stampers – Just Like the PUC in California will Green Light any Possible Increase in Rates Taxes and Revenues. That’s How they Do Business.

Trivia – in 1958 the Tustin Water Works Charged Just $5 per Month for Water – All You Could Use – There Wasn’t Even a Meter.

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Tap water may seem free, especially in comparison to Perrier or Evian. But in fact, getting it to kitchen faucets comes with a price tag – and one that is inching upward, Tustin officials say.

“The cost of water has continued to rise annually,” said Michael Grisso, the city’s water services manager.

For the first time in five years, Tustin is looking at passing along those increases to consumers through a rise in rates. Early next year, the City Council will vote on a multi-year, incremental rate hike.

If council members approve the staff proposal, rates almost immediately will increase 6% per year for five years.

Current single-family residential rates are based on an escalating tier structure that starts at 84 cents per unit of water and caps at $4.05 per unit. One unit of water is equal to 748 gallons.

“Costs of operating and maintaining the water system have grown over the years,” Grisso said. “Electricity costs have increased, construction and maintenance costs have increased, material and labor costs have increased. The city is projecting these costs will continue to increase.”

About 80% of Tustin’s water comes from the local groundwater basin managed by the Orange County Water District. While it’s the least expensive source, Grisso said costs to the city have gone up 42% during the last four years.

The rest of the city’s water is imported from the Colorado River and Northern California. Transportation logistics make that water pricier, with costs going up about 10% during the last four years, Grisso said.

The City Council vote will directly follow a public hearing scheduled for Jan. 21.

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/10/08/as-cost-of-delivering-water-climbs-tustin-looks-at-raising-household-rates/

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Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson dies “Unexpectedly” at 60 – Billions of Dollars on Radio and TV Ads with Highly Paid Celebrities – People Looking “Blissful” Riding Bicycles on the Street – Smiling Happy People at the Gym and Doing Hot Yoga – Running on Treadmills – Colored Balloons – Slogans – Life Coaching – Brochures – Lavish Facilities with Artworks and 4K TV Screens – Call Centers – Endless Nagging Telephone Calls and Emails About Getting Your Blood Pressure Checked – Coming In for an Appointment – and Making that Copay – Nurses Unions – Appointment Reminders – Elaborate Websites and Apps – Diagnostics – Preventative Medicine – Health and Lifestyle Counseling – MRIs – Rapid MRIs – CT Scans – PET Scans – Echo Cardiograms – Personal Empowerment – Blue Skies – Green Grassy Fields – and Of Course – Thriving – It All Looked So Good on TV – What the Hell Went Wrong?

Editors Note: I Cancelled My Appointment – Got on the Treadmill for an Hour and Had a Protein Shake for Lunch.

(Reuters) – Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and chief executive officer of not-for-profit health insurer Kaiser Permanente, died unexpectedly in his sleep on Sunday, aged 60, the company said in a statement.

Tyson, who held the top job since 2013, was Oakland, California-based Kaiser Permanente’s first black chief executive and a strong proponent for affordable and accessible healthcare.

The company did not give a cause of death. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A day earlier on Saturday, the San Francisco native took to Twitter to post about “high-tech and high-touch” healthcare.

Tyson was described by colleagues in a company statement as “an outstanding leader, visionary and champion for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.”

In response to Tyson’s death, the National Union of Healthcare Workers postponed a five-day strike by 4,000 mental health professional that had been set to begin on Monday at more than 100 Kaiser clinics across California.

“Our members dedicate their lives to helping people through tragedy and trauma, and they understood that a strike would not be appropriate during this period of mourning and reflection,” union president Sal Rosselli said in a statement.

The union, locked in a contract dispute its leaders say centers on demands for improved retirement and health benefits for Kaiser’s mental health clinicians, has yet to reschedule the strike, he said.

Kaiser’s annual operating revenue as of June was nearly $80 billion, up from about $53 billion in 2013 when Tyson took over as CEO, according to the company’s website.

The company, which serves more than 12 million people across the United States and was founded in 1945, named Gregory Adams, executive vice president, as interim chairman and CEO.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-people-bernard-tyson/kaiser-permanente-ceo-bernard-tyson-dies-unexpectedly-at-60-idUSKBN1XL05U

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Data analysis firm CoreLogic says that for every two homebuyers who moved to California from 2000 through 2015, five others sold their homes, packed up and moved out

Californians fleeing state’s high cost of housing

Nov. 14, 2016

California’s warm weather, sunny beaches and world-class schools have lured people to the Golden State for decades, but rising home prices are turning that equation around.

Data analysis firm CoreLogic says that for every two homebuyers who moved to California from 2000 through 2015, five others sold their homes, packed up and moved out.

Arizona and Texas were the top destinations for people moving out of California, CoreLogic reported. Only New Jersey had a higher ratio of fleeing homeowners during that period.

“California had the largest number of out-migrants in 2015,” CoreLogic Senior Economist Kristine Yao said in a blog post published Thursday.

The trend of out-migration was also noted in a separte trio of reports released earlier this year by Beacon Economics. Beacon noted that 625,000 more U.S. residents left California between 2007 and 2014 than moved into the state. The vast majority ended up in Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Washington.

The search for more affordable housing is sending low- and middle-income workers out of the state, while higher-wage workers continue to move in, which argues against the theory that high taxes are driving people away.

“California has an employment boom with a housing problem,” said Beacon founding partner Christopher Thornberg. “The state continues to offer great employment opportunities for all kinds of workers, but housing affordability and supply represent a significant problem.”

Home prices and rents have been rising steadily for more than four years.

CoreLogic figures show Orange County’s median home price was up 42 percent in the four years ending in September. Prices were up 55 percent in Los Angeles County, 57 percent in Riverside County and 75 percent in San Bernardino County.

Although home sellers leaving California last year paid, on average, 36 percent less for their new homes out of state, they tended to end up in better neighborhoods, CoreLogic reported. Their purchase prices ranked in the 77th percentile for their new metro areas, while their sale prices ranked in the 62 percentile back home.

“Of the homeowners moving out of state, more of them sold in high appreciation, high cost areas and bought in lower appreciation, more affordable areas,” Yao wrote.

California home prices have risen in part because of a lack of inventory.

From 2005 to 2015, permits were filed for only 21.5 housing units per every 100 new residents in the state. That put the Golden State second to last behind Alaska, where only 16.2 housing permits were filed for every 100 new residents.

On the flip side, Michigan saw 166 permits filed for every 100 new residents.

Register staff writer Jeff Collins contributed to this report.

https://www.ocregister.com/articles/home-735151-prices-state.html

Hangar Fire - "Without Litigation" - City of Tustin Already On the Hook for $90 Million in Clean-Up Costs - "Not Including the Actual Hangar Property" - and Heading for a Billion Dollars - Developers Likely Not Off the Hook Either - Property Value Assessments Undergoing Official Review - Ask Yourself - Would You Buy or Rent at the Tustin Legacy - Remember there's "Another" Hangar Too
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