| Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. |
 |
|
In This Issue:
AWA Accounting Adjustments Expose $6 Million Omission AWA “Adjustments” Reveal How Ratepayers Subsidize Growth AWA Holds Outreach Meeting About RPA Ratepayer Protection Alliance (RPA) was formed to support the rights of the people of Amador County against unfair rate increases, which are usually used to subsidize special interests. Recently, RPA has assisted citizens who successfully protested several water rate increases. RPA is committed to ensuring that water, wastewater and garbage rates in Amador County are justified, and do not unfairly burden local residents. Donations RPA works hard to minimize costs of informing the public of unfair rate increases. RPA operates on the donated time of volunteers and no one is paid for their efforts. Donations for postage costs can be sent to: Ratepayer Protection Alliance P.O. Box 51 Pine Grove CA 95665 |
AWA Accounting Adjustments Expose $6 Million Omission After more than 7 months, AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo brought AWA staff’s financial work to the Board for approval. This considerable effort by staff was supposed to clear up discrepancies between the 2011 annual audit and the 66013 financial report. With less than two days to review the 75 pages of documents, the public still managed to find $6 million in omissions and questioned the legitimacy of some of the participation fee revenue numbers. Because of the omissions, Mancebo’s accounting adjustments showed that ratepayers owed the restricted connection fee accounts $415,000 with interest. If two-thirds of the $6 million Amador Transmission Line (ATL) debt service is charged to the restricted reserves as the 2007 AWA fee study requires, ratepayers will go from owing $415,000 to being owed $3.6 million with interest. The difference would give huge relief to ratepayers.  AWA “Adjustments” Reveal How Ratepayers Subsidize Growth At the AWA Budget Finance committee meeting on November 5th, financial documents provided to the committee detailed how ratepayers have been subsidizing projects for development. The documents showed that fees collected from developers to reimburse ratepayers for existing infrastructure were instead used to pay for developer projects. The Amador Transmission Line (ATL) is one example that was discussed at the meeting. AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo and AWA Controller Marvin Davis claimed that it was the previous AWA Controller, Ann Barre and financial services manager Mike Lee who combined the funds. Mancebo did not disclose whether or not Jim Abercrombie, who was AWA general manager at the time, directed Lee and Barre to combine the funds. AWA Holds Outreach Meeting At six o’clock Sept. 12, the night before the Amador Water Agency board was to vote on the upcountry water rate increase, an outreach meeting was held at the Mace Meadows Golf Club House. With over 70 residents in attendance at the opening, the numbers dwindled to forty six at seven thirty and only fourteen by nine o’clock. During the hour and a half presentation by AWA staff, the public made several attempts to ask questions only to be fended off by the speakers and asked to hold all questions until the end. At one point, out of what appeared to be unanswered frustration, one resident stood up and walked out of the meeting. |
|
Please forward this message to others in Amador County and help us get the word out!
Visit us on the web: www.amadorwatchdog.org Our mailing address is: Ratepayer Protection Alliance, P.O. Box 51, Pine Grove CA 95665 Our telephone: 209-223-0993 Unsubscribe from these updates. Copyright (C) 2012 Ratepayer Protection Alliance. All rights reserved. |
|