SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When Gov. Gavin Newsom took office on Jan. 7, headlines began coming out concerning new programs, taxes and fees that he planned to enact.
When rumors began circulating that Newsom wanted to tax drinking water, it brought up questions of if that was possible. So ABC10 looked into it.
CLAIM: Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to tax drinking water.
WHAT THE BUDGET PROPOSAL SAYS: The budget calls for lawmakers to pass a version of a Senate Bill 623 that failed in 2017 before and would have put a fee on milk, fertilizer and water services.
The fee on water would be 95 cents more per month, which would increase the current average water bill 1.5 percent. The current average water bill is $63, according to the Public Utilities Commission.
WHAT THE SACRAMENTO WATER DISTRICT SAYS: The Sacramento Suburban Water District's Chief Financial Officer Dan Bills said that currently none of the fees or taxes on water bills come from the state. They all pay for things the water service needs at the local level.
Water Districts are opposing Newsom's idea because they fear that, once the state gets a small fee, they will eventually want to make that fee bigger.
TRUE OR FALSE? True.
Technically, the proposal is a fee and not a tax, but people using water services would need to pay more money each month to fund a state program. The idea is still not a reality. It will take a two-thirds vote in the California legislature for this fee to be a reality.
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