Don’t Sign Petitions That Would Limit Water and Sewer Rates

September 14, 2011

TO:  ACEC/MA Key Leaders
FR:  Abbie Goodman, ACEC/MA Executive Director

Government Affairs Alert:
Proposed Ballot Question Would Limit Water and Sewer Rate Increases

Action Requested:  Don’t Sign Petitions That Would Limit Water and Sewer Rates

On September 7, 2011, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley certified some of the 31 initiative petitions that had been filed with the Attorney General's Office for potential consideration on the November 2012 ballot.  They cover a wide range of public policy issues.  The Attorney General’s certification does not mean that she supports any particular initiative petitions.  It means she determined that the proposed language met the legal standard for initiative petitions.

Status of 2011-2012 Petitions filed with Attorney General’s office:  https://bitly.com/nzY1TU

Oppose: Petition Number 11-10: 
A Petition for a Law Limiting the Amount by which Water and Sewer Rates May be Raised

Petition Number 11-10 proposes a law to limit the amount by which water or sewer rates may be raised to an amount not greater than 2.5% annually and allowing for an override or approval of the rate increase by a ballot election in effected municipalities.  I.e., a Proposition 2 ½ override would be required before a municipality could raise water and sewer rates more than 2.5 %.  Many of you may have experience with Prop. 2 1/2 overrides in your own community.  For water and sewer systems, this would severely constrain systems that need maintenance and need to meet increasingly complex environmental and energy regulations.

ACTION REQUESTED:
This potential ballot question is of concern to ACEC/MA and municipalities.  We will be following actions taken on this question closely, but wanted to make you aware of it now. 

Please Don’t Sign a Petition to Put 11-10 on the Ballot.

Do discuss this issue with your colleagues and urge them NOT to sign a petition that would put this question on the ballot.

BACKGROUND:
Background on the Initiative Petition Process for a Law:  http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleguide/guidelaw.htm
Between September 21 and November 23, 2011, a variety of constituency groups will be gathering signatures to enable the initiative petitions, including Petition Number 11-10, to continue in the process of being considered for inclusion on the November 2012 ballot.  Petition Number 11-10 would need at least 68,911 additional signatures from certified Massachusetts voters by November 23, 2011 before the signed petitions can be certified by the Secretary of State’s office.  If they have enough signatures, the Secretary of State for the Commonwealth then transmits the signed petitions to the Massachusetts legislature.

After the necessary number of signatures have been certified and filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, he transmits the initiative petition to the House Clerk for legislative action on the first legislative day of the year (January 4, 2012).  The initiative petition must be heard by the committee to which it is referred and a report issued.  Any legislative action on the petition must be taken by each branch of the legislature (General Court) before the first Wednesday in May (May 1, 2012).  The legislature cannot amend the initiative petition.  If they approve the initiative and the Governor signs it or it passes over his veto by a two-thirds vote of both houses, it becomes a law.

It is unlikely that the legislature would approve this initiative petition, and ACEC/MA will advocate for our legislators to oppose it.  If the legislature doesn’t pass the initiative petition, however, the petitioners may force the original or amended petition on the ballot at the next regular state election in November 2012 by submitting a written request to the Secretary by the appropriate deadline for additional petition forms and then collecting the required number of additional certified signatures (11,485 signatures for 2012) on these forms.  This would create a full ballot campaign effort to defeat.

Taking a small step now, to discuss this with your colleagues and neighbors and urge them NOT to sign the petitions on this matter over the next two months helps to inform our community and could help to prevent this ballot question from moving forward.

More on How to Place a Question on the State Election Ballot http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleguide/guideidx.htm

31 ballot questions filed with Attorney General’s office:  https://bitly.com/nzY1TU

Petition Number:  11-10:  A Petition for a Law Limiting the Amount by which Water and Sewer Rates May be Raised
Attorney General’s Decision on 9-7-11: CERTIFIED

A Petition For A Law Limiting The Amount By Which Water Or Sewer Rates May Be Raised To An Amount Not Greater Than Two And One-Half Percent Annually And Allowing For An Override Or Approval Of The Rate Increase By A Ballot Election In Effected Municipalities.

SUMMARY OF NO. 11-10
This proposed law would impose a 2.5% cap, subject to voter override, on any annual increases in water and sewer rates charged to users by Massachusetts cities, towns and municipal corporations, such as water and sewer districts and commissions, engaged in the distribution and sale of water or the furnishing of sewer service.

The affected municipalities could override the cap and implement rates higher than a 2.5% increase by a two-thirds majority vote at a regularly scheduled municipal or state election. Rate increases in excess of 2.5% could not take effect until such an election was held, and the current year’s rates would remain in effect in the meantime.

The proposed law would require cities, towns, municipal corporations and sewer districts to file schedules annually with the state Department of Public Utilities, showing current water and/or sewer rates, proposed new rates, if any, and any percentage increase or decrease. The existing requirement that water districts file rate schedules with the Department would be expanded to require these same details.

The proposed law would require that the rate schedules be filed with the Department approximately six months before the beginning of the fiscal year in which the rates would take effect, and that the new rates be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least six months before an override election.

The Department would review the rate schedules of cities, towns and other municipal corporations, such as water and sewer districts and commissions, for compliance with the 2.5% cap. The proposed law would require the Department to disapprove any rate increase exceeding 2.5% of the rates for the current fiscal year, unless approved by a voter override.

If a bond issue for improvements to water or sewer systems was in effect on the effective date of the proposed law, and required an increase greater than 2.5%, the proposed law would not prohibit such an increase.

The proposed law would supersede any conflicting limitation imposed by a municipal or corporate charter, or by any administrative order or regulation.

The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

The proposed law would take effect upon certification of 2012 state election results and would apply to rates for fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2013.