Electric rates will be going up in Lompoc, beginning with December electric bills. An 8-percent increase on residential and commercial customer kilowatt-hour (kwh) rates will take effect at the beginning of next month, with additional increases of 8 percent July 1 2010, 6 percent in 2011, and 3 percent in 2012.

The City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve the multi-year increase, with Councilwoman Cecilia Martner and Councilman Tony Durham dissenting.

A similar multi-year increase was approved in 2006 by the City Council, which will add an additional 6-percent increase in July, making the total rate of increase 31 percent by July 2011.

The higher rates will equal about 20 cents more per kwh.

"It's painful for us, just as it's painful for many of you," said Councilman Bob Lingl, who said the increase was necessary to keep up with the rising cost of electricity.

The motion to accept the rate increase came from Mayor Mike Siminski.

"We could have done the (31 percent) increase tonight, but we've staggered it as well as we could," Siminski said.

Financial Services Manager Brad Wilkie gave the staff report to council and the public, saying the rate increase was necessary to "turn the corner" for the city's electrical utility fund, which had been losing money since 2006. Wilkie said using reserve money to pay for the shortfall had dropped the utility's funds well below recommended levels.

"In the last fiscal year the reserves were reduced by about $1.5 million," Wilkie said after the meeting.

Siminski said the rate increases would still leave Lompoc with lower rates than Pacific Gas and Electric customers, and that a vote for the full increase would hopefully forestall the need for any other rate increases for a few years.

Councilman Durham said he could acknowledge the financial realities of needing to raise rates, but said he questioned if the increases had to be so large, or repeated over the next two years.

"I get a lot of frustration from the community," Durham said.

Martner argued that the 2006 electric rate increase projections were not accurate due to a volatile energy market.

"We have no ability to project where the energy costs will be. So why not just increase the rates for this year, and see where things are," she said.

Former city councilman and local businessman Will Schuyler was the only public speaker on the rate increase; he voiced his disapproval.

"When does the time come when we just turn the lights out and leave them off," he said.

Schuyler, as he has for years, said he also disapproves of the higher rates commercial electric customers pay compared to residential users in Lompoc.

Also during the council meeting, a quarterly report was given on the financial status of the Aquatic Center by the city's Recreation Manager JoAnne Plummer.

Earlier this year Plummer had presented several cost-saving ideas to the City Council, which was concerned about the amount of money the city was having to subsidize the center. Plummer said that after increasing fees, and changing the schedule of some programs, the Aquatic Center had decreased overall expenses by $40,000 compared to last year.

Plummer said there have been some consequences.

"Since the fee increase in July 2009 we have seen a decrease," in lap and free swim usage she said.

Another effect of the budget cuts will be a prolonged closure of the Aquatic Center during winter, for maintenance and cost savings. The closure is scheduled to begin on Nov. 30, and last six weeks, to reopen on Jan. 11, 2010.