For years, the California Apartment Association has pushed for a fair and cost-effective bill that governs water submeters in new apartment construction while allowing owners to pass along associated costs to tenants.
CAA is optimistic that, after more work, Senate Bill 7 may fulfill these goals, ultimately saving precious water in a state that continues to face challenges with lack of rainfall.
Sen. Lois Wolk
SB 7 by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, includes provisions to clarify how multifamily property owners can charge tenants for water use, and it allows for late fees and eviction when tenants don’t pay their bills.
Submeters gauge water use in individual apartments, so water bills more accurately reflect actual use by tenants. This creates a financial incentive to conserve.
Over the years, many property owners have voluntarily installed water submeters in individual units. Rental property owners who’ve done so typically use third-party billing companies to read those submeters and bill tenants for their water use. SB 7 provides guidance, both to owners and billing firms, on how this should work.
The bill would, in no way, affect existing properties without submeters where tenants are billed separately through ratio-allocation utility systems, also known as RUBs.
The bill has progressed through the entire legislative process and is now in a holding pattern on the Assembly floor. CAA is working with the author and interested parties to refine wording and correct remaining areas of concern to CAA. This includes wording to ensure affordability of submeter installation.
“CAA hopes all interested parties can reach common ground so that a reasonable bill can reach the governor’s desk by the end of the year,” said Debra Carlton, CAA’s senior vice president of state government affairs. If ultimately signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, SB 7 would take effect Jan. 1, 2018.