Council Panel Backs Plan for 37% Rise in Water and Sewer Rates

A San Diego City Council committee Wednesday endorsed a five-year plan to raise sewer and water rates by 37% but ordered pricing structure changes to encourage water conservation.

If approved by the full council in the next few weeks, the new schedule would raise average monthly sewer bills for single-family homeowners from $17.12 today to $24.41 July 1, 1995. Water bills would increase to $22.07 from $16.80 over the same period. The total monthly charge would jump to $46.48 from $33.92, an increase of 37%.

Revenue from a series of 6% sewer fee increases, the first of which takes effect July 1, would be spent on the $2.8-billion upgrading of the city’s sewage treatment system to standards required by the federal Clean Water Act, a massive public works project that will cost about $6 billion when financing costs are included.

Water price increases would pay for upgraded water treatment required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and some expansion of the city’s water pipeline system.

Developers would absorb a far larger increase of 123% in the fees they pay to hook up a home to the city’s water and sewer systems over the same period. The increases--which would bring the water hookup charge to $4,252 and sewer connection fee to $7,348 by July 1, 1995--come on top of 160% and 95% increases in the same charges imposed by the council last year.

John Seymour, legislative analyst for the Construction Industry Federation, told the council’s Public Services and Safety Committee that the fee increases, when added to existing and proposed fees scheduled to be considered by the council next week, could bring total fees on some homes to $24,000 to $35,000 each.

Under a proposal released April 2 by the city’s Water Utilities Department, the pricing system would, for the first time, provide single-family homeowners with incentives to conserve water by replacing the existing flat rate system of sewer fees with rates based on actual water use.

In addition, the department proposed expansion of the existing two-tiered water price structure to three tiers to penalize major water users with higher prices.

But Councilman Ron Roberts said that a three-tier rate schedule would put most water consumers in the highest-priced category, removing their incentive to conserve. He asked city staff members to break the water price structure into at least four tiers and possibly as many as six.

“If we head in this direction, we’re not going to have to buy those (low flow) shower heads and water dams (for toilets) and those other things, because there’s going to be a tremendous incentive for people to get those in,” Roberts said.

Milon Mills, director of the Water Utilities Department, said the pricing plan also will be expanded to include multifamily, commercial and industrial properties to further enhance water conservation.

Roberts and council members Wes Pratt, Linda Bernhardt and Judy McCarty supported the proposal. Councilman John Hartley voted against it, saying he is against making customers bear the full cost of the sewage treatment improvements.