Opinion No. (1997)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General ANTHONY Da VIGO Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE ROBERT A. RYAN, JR., COUNTY COUNSEL, COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, has requested an opinion on the following question: May a county water district adopt a service fee structure providing a lower water rate for its public agency customers? CONCLUSION A county water district may adopt a service fee structure providing a lower water rate for its public agency customers. ANALYSIS Recently a county water district adopted a new service fee structure increasing the water rate for its customers. School districts and park districts requested that the new rate not be applied to them for one year and that they pay 50 percent of the new rate thereafter. The question presented for resolution is whether the water district may agree to the requests of the school districts and park districts. We conclude that it may. A county water district is operated pursuant to the provisions of the County Water District Law (Wat. Code, §§ 30000 - 33901 ). 1 It is a "municipal corporation" within the meaning of section 9 of article XI of the Constitution, 2 and has broad powers that include the right to contract to…