San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Rate Fairness Board

MINUTES

Tuesday, November 28, 2006
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
City Hall Room 316

Members
Bobbrie Brown, Acting Chair
Howard Ash
Todd Rydstrom, for Edward Harrington
Ben Rosenfield, for Ed Lee
Nadia Sesay
William Wilkinson
Vacancy

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Chair Bobbrie Brown called the Rate Fairness Board meeting to order at 4:08pm and roll call was taken. Present: Bobbrie Brown, Howard Ash, Todd Rydstrom (representing Ed Harrington), Ben Rosenfield (representing Ed Lee), and Nadia Sesay; plus two vacancies (William Wilkinson resigned from the Board since the 11/07/06 meeting of the RFB)

2. Public comment on items within the Board's jurisdiction but not on the agenda

There were no members of the public present for public comment.

3. Discussion and possible action to approve the minutes of the November 7, 2006 meeting

Ms. Brown moved that the minutes be approved and Ms. Sesay seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous subject to adding clarification of the number of parcel owners needed for protest as required to in Proposition 218 as requested by Mr. Ash.  

4. Election of Chair and Vice Chair

Ms. Brown explained that William Wilkinson tendered his resignation from the RFB since the last meeting; leaving two open RFB vacancies. Mr. Rydstrom motioned to nominate Ms. Brown for Chair and Mr. Ash for Vice Chair. The Board unanimously agreed.

5. Discussion regarding proposed communications and public outreach plan

Mr. Tony Winnicker, SFPUC Director of Communications, discussed his department’s role in the past assisting in communicating rate packages to the public through multiple community meetings. He discussed a proposed plan for this coming rate package and a tentative schedule for public meetings and general outreach; a document detailing this was distributed. Mr. Winnicker stated they would post the schedule on the PUC’s website as was done previously as well as work to design a bill enclosure that stands out, as per Ms. Giradot’s comment.

Mr. Rydstrom pointed out that this rate package will be different under the context of Proposition 218 and will be important that the public is made aware of their right to protest.

PUC staff agreed to review minutes from past meetings to ascertain the rationale for the creation of the Public Outreach Committee.

6. Discussion regarding Water System Improvement Program and Wastewater 5-Year Capital Improvement Program
Mr. Surinderjeet “Jeet” Bajwa, SFPUC Manager of Projects for Infrastructure’s Program Management Bureau gave the RFB members an overview of the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP). Mr. Bajwa distributed detailed handouts to the group (available upon request).

7. Discussion regarding staff Water and Wastewater DRAFT Rate Report 
Acting Director of SFPUC Financial Planning, Karol Ostberg, distributed a draft of the Rate Report which contained information on water rates only. After discussion, the RFB members decided to review the document over the coming weeks and send feedback to PUC; the draft would be thoroughly discussed at the next meeting, January 10, 2007.

In addition to a draft of the Rate Report, Ms Ostberg distributed the following documents:

· 11/07/06 RFB Meeting Draft Minutes
· Response to questions and comments raised at the 11/07/06 meeting:

1. Research re late charges
2. Status of revenues from the Capacity Charge
3. Research on characteristics of the LINPH program
4. Comparison of sewer use by block, projected and actual
5. The CAP program’s enrollment compared with Sunset Scavenger’s Lifeline program

· RFB contact information (revised)
· RFB meeting schedule (revised)
· Comparison of Rate Structure Alternatives (Evaluative Criteria Matrix)
· Wastewater projections and common size tables
· Proposed FY 08 rate impacts on rates and monthly service charges

Items discussed prior to adjournment:

1. Agenda items for the 1/10/07 meeting:

a. PUC staff to discuss Wastewater CIP (10 minutes)
b. “Ongoing Business” to be added as a permanent agenda item
c. “New Business” to be added as a permanent agenda item prior to adjournment to give people an opportunity to add items to the next meeting’s agenda

2.  At Mr. Ash’s request, PUC staff agreed to research using a surcharge as an additional means to finance the capital programs

3. At Mr. Rydstrom’s request, PUC staff agreed to make the following changes to the Water and Wastewater Enterprise projections:

a. Projections to extend to show additional years
b. Projections will have row numbers added
c. Common size tables will have debt service and net revenue after debt service added and all costs will be shown as a percentage of total revenue
d. Common size table will be added that shows year over year percentage changes

4. Ms. Brown will be provided with a description of the Plumbers to People program

8. Adjournment
Chair Brown adjourned the meeting at 6:17 pm.