California: Stockton Municipal Water Utilities

The City of Stockton's Municipal Water Utilities is another P3 disaster from around the world - a disaster much like the failures (SR 91 and SR 125) that have cost California taxpayers hundreds of millions more than they should have. Because they are so profitable, it is not a surprise that multi-national companies and Wall Street investment houses want to bring more such P3s to the "lucrative" California market.
 

• Require competitive bidding.

• Require public oversight, design and inspection to ensure public safety and cost controls.

• Utilize tax exempt public financing which is as much as 35 percent lower than private borrowing.

• Tolls should be reinvested in our transportation and other public infrastructure.

• Prohibit non-compete clauses and cash payments that prevent improvements to competing public roads, increasing congestion.

__________
1 Concerned Citizens Coalition of Stockton, "Annual Service Contract Review," December 7, 2004
2 Global Water Intelligence, "Court Blocks Stockton Deal," Nov. 11, 2003
3 Concerned Citizens Coalition of Stockton, "Citizens Triumph Over Corporate Control of Water in
   Stockton; Judge Rescinds Largest Water Privatization Contract on West Coast," December 5, 2003