Posts Tagged: rates

Household water costs fluctuate sharply

Boats cluster together at drought-ravaged Shasta Lake. (Photo: David Greitzer).

by JOHN HOWARD posted 05.05.2015

People across California pay dramatically different amounts for the same amount of water, with price tags set by individual agencies from Crescent City to El Centro. North or south, inland or coastal, what Californians pay for their water is locally driven. Ultimately, retail water’s value is determined in a way similar to real estate – location, location, location.

Water and eminent domain: a volatile mix

A town hall meeting in Claremont that focused on water issues. (Photo: City of Claremont.)

by JOHN HOWARD posted 03.02.2015

A Southern California city has launched eminent domain proceedings to take over the private water agency that has served the community for more than 80 years – an unusual move, even in California, where fights over water are common.

OPINION: As a surgeon, I weigh in on political issues whenever they impact me and my patients, and when I think I can shed additional light on the matter. That was the case this year when I became a vocal opponent of Proposition 45, which would have given the state’s Insurance Commissioner unprecedented new powers over health care decisions.

Prop. 45: Dems split over regulating health care rates

Two aspects of health care: A claim form and money,. (Photo: Zimmytws via Shutterstock)

by SAMANTHA GALLEGOS posted 10.13.2014

A high-stakes ballot measure going before voters Nov. 4 has divided California Democrats, with the state party and some of its most prominent politicians on opposite sides. The initiative, Proposition 45, would empower the state’s elected insurance commissioner to approve health insurance rates.

CalPERS’ investment earnings climbing steadily

CalPERS headquarters, Sacramento. (Photo: Wikipedia)

by ED MENDEL posted 09.22.2014

Calpensions: Three years ago CalPERS investment earnings hit bottom in a Wilshire consultants report that ranks the performance of big pension funds — dead last among its peers over the previous five years. Last week a new Wilshire report showed CalPERS investment earnings steadily climbing up the ranks, finishing in the top quarter of big pension funds during the last three years.

An $8 million pension bond was approved last week by voters in Piedmont, a small well-to-do city completely surrounded by deep-in-debt Oakland, originator of the pension bond that has figured in the Stockton, San Bernardino and Detroit bankruptcies. (Photo: City of Fremont

Most California public pension funds have the power to raise annual employer rates when they need more money. The California State Teachers Retirement System, a century old this year, is an outlier that needs legislation to raise rates. As lawmakers at the Capitol struggled with budget cuts during a deep economic recession, pleas for a CalSTRS rate increase were not acknowledged with a legislative hearing until last year.

CalPERS eyes 27 percent employer rate hike over next six years

CalPERS' headquarters in Sacramento. (Photo: Coolcaesar/en.wikipedia)

by ED MENDEL posted 10.08.2013

A new CalPERS projection shows employer rates for the largest group of state workers increasing 27 percent over the next six years — but the focus is on the risk of how much things can change.