NOVATO, CA --
Starting Monday, it's going to cost nearly 20,000 Novato residents a bit more to get their water.MOST POPULAR: Video, stories and more
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On Tuesday night, the North Marin Water District approved a 20 percent rate hike, meaning the average household will pay about $84 more a year.
Board members say the hike is necessary because of an increase in the price of buying water from the nearby Sonoma Water Agency and because of dangerously low financial reserves.
Officials say this could be the first of many increases over the next five years.
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