Opinion: Riversiders Deserve a Break This Summer

With higher food and increasingly unaffordable gas prices, Riversiders need and deserve a break from high utility taxes and fees. City Council should hold a special meeting to suspend some of these charges, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars. These suggestions will not affect RPU or general fund services and could make your summer more affordable.

General Fund Transfer/GFT. The Charter allows but doesn't require the City to charge up to 11.5 percent in water and electricity taxes. In 2018, the Charter Commission recommended the City gradually reduce GFT charges to avoid litigation. A court has now held the water GFT is unlawful, and held the City should refund the $45 million it's been collecting and holding in a segregated fund. At a minimum, the City should now suspend collecting any more water GFT while it appeals the judgment.

Public Benefit Fund/PBF. Each year, the RPU collects about $10 million in public benefit funds. In the late 1990s, the California Legislature passed legislation requiring these monies be set aside to incentivize efficiency and this money cannot be legally refunded to you. Though a plan is now in place to spend down the $35 million of accumulated PBF, it will take several years. In the meantime, RPU commissioners have suggested (and this writer agrees) that the City should suspend collecting even more money. Other states already are cutting similar funds to help customers with high utility bills, and you deserve a similar break.

The City and RPU offer many subsidies providing assistance to low-income residents and these programs are important. Immediately suspending the GFT and PBF, however, would help all ratepayers equally and would not affect these other programs. With the June 2, 2026, election looming, it's a good time to ask candidates and current councilmembers whether they support ideas that would make the lives of all more affordable.

Malissa McKeith is a water rights attorney and president of CURE, a local nonprofit curegroup.org. She served on the past two Charter Commissions and chaired the subcommittee evaluating options for the GFT and the Inspector General.

Editor's notes:

• General Fund Transfer (GFT): A fee the City of Riverside charges Riverside Public Utilities customers on their water and electricity bills, transferring a percentage of utility revenue into the City's general fund. The City Charter permits a GFT of up to 11.5 percent.
• Public Benefit Fund (PBF): A surcharge collected by Riverside Public Utilities under a California mandate established by Assembly Bill 1890 (1996). The funds are designated for energy efficiency programs, renewable energy and low-income customer assistance — and by law cannot be refunded to ratepayers.
• CURE: Citizens United for Resources and the Environment, a Riverside-based nonprofit that has advocated for ratepayer interests in City utility proceedings.