Hatfield

BACKGROUND

I Factual Background Because we consider this matter at the demurrer stage, we assume the truth of all properly pleaded material allegations in Hatfield’s complaint. (Moore v. Regents of University of California (1990) 51 Cal.3d 120, 125.) The District charges its customers several distinct fees for water service. It charges customers a monthly service fee and a water usage fee—which are set in the District’s water rate schedule. It also charges customers a monthly fee to support a joint powers authority, the Utica Water and Power Authority (UWPA), that provides water to the District. This latter fee is called the UWPA fee. In a November 2016 resolution (the 2016 Resolution), the District adopted a “five year rate schedule” for its UWPA fee that contemplated annual fee adjustments. Over the following five years, the District periodically adjusted its UWPA fee. It made its last rate adjustment to take effect on July 1, 2020, setting the UWPA fee at $18 per month. Following the rate schedule’s expiration in November 2021, the District continued charging customers a UWPA fee of $18 per month. In late 2022, the District considered changing its fees for water service. In a…