Fountain Valley water, sewer and trash rates may be headed higher

Water and sewer bills could be going up in Fountain Valley.

The City Council got the ball rolling Tuesday on a package of rate hikes that could make costs go up by $7.31 per billing cycle next year for the typical household.

The council agreed to direct city staff to send notifications to customers about the potential rate increases and invite feedback.

“This is even more encouragement to our ratepayers to conserve water,” Councilwoman Cheryl Brothers said.

If approved, increases to the water meter flat rate, sewer flat rate and variable water use fees, all of which are charged every other month, would bring the average total bill for a single-family household from $109.55 to $116.86 starting in July. That assumes 25 units of water use per billing cycle (a unit equals 748 gallons).

Other increases would follow for the next four years, with the average bill reaching $145 bimonthly for water and sewer in 2022.

The proposed water and sewer increases are intended to cover the cost of water, compliance with regulations, operations, maintenance, and infrastructure and equipment repair and replacement, according to the city.

“The sewer fund has a good fund balance, but over time that’s going to get drawn down well below what … the city targets and what’s good policy to have some cushion in our accounts if we continue to not raise rates,” said Brian Jewett, the city’s rate consultant.

The water fund faces a similar situation, he said.

Currently, the bimonthly charge for a typical household water connection is $14.56, the sewer flat rate is $12.74 and the water use fee is $3.29 per unit. Next year’s proposed structure would bump that to $15.62 for the water connection, $13.24 for sewer and $3.52 per unit of water.

The city last increased the rates in 2013.

Trash fees also may be creeping up

Trash and recycling collection fees also could increase next year.

The proposed trash and recycling fee, charged by city contractor Republic Services, would follow the Consumer Price Index, climbing by 2.1% in February. That would mean a 62-cent increase on a regular bimonthly bill, from $38.22 to $38.84. It also would increase the rate under the senior citizen discount by 54 cents per bill, from $33.76 to $34.30.

City staff recommended adoption of Republic’s suggested standard fee hike but not a separate 0.3% increase the trash hauler sought to make up for increased costs related to California’s newly increased gasoline tax. That’s because Republic’s Fountain Valley fleet runs on compressed natural gas, which is not affected by the new tax hike.

The council agreed to send out notifications about a potential trash fee increase as well.

Protest hearings for the water, sewer and trash items are scheduled for Feb. 6.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD