Katz Wants to Ban Billing Septic Users for Sewer Service

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda) on Wednesday said he would seek legislation to make it illegal for Los Angeles to continue billing septic tank users hundreds of dollars annually for sewer service that they do not receive.

The lawmaker also said the proposed amendment to the state Government Code would make septic tank users eligible for full refunds of unwarranted sewer fees, which in some cases total more than $1,000. Currently, the charges are refunded only for the 12 months prior to the date that water customers ask to be exempted.

“The fact that the city can collect money for services they never provided is outrageous,” Katz said. “You can’t rip off people just because you’re too lazy to see whether sewers are hooked up or not.”

Under the current billing system, it is the responsibility of septic tank users to notify the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power that their properties are not connected to sewers. The city does not limit the fees to sewer users alone because it does not know precisely which properties are connected to sewers, or how many use septic tanks.

If passed, Katz’s measure could force the city to conduct a tedious and potentially expensive survey to determine which parcels are connected to the sewer system, said Fred Hoeptner, a senior civil engineer with the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. Although recent sewer connection records are up-to-date, many older records are inaccurate or non-existent, he said.

Katz made the proposal in response to a claim filed with the city last Friday on behalf of eight Pacoima residents seeking full sewer fee refunds for money paid as far back as 1981. The residents, who live along a stretch of Brownell Street that has no sewer access, found out in January that they were entitled to fee exemptions.

Attorney Fred T. Nakamura, who is representing the residents, and city officials said they had no way of determining how many other Los Angeles residents were also paying the fees for unneeded and undelivered sewer services. They also said they could not calculate how much money the city had collected from such residents since its residential sewer fee ordinance took effect in 1978.

Katz, whose district includes Pacoima, said he will not be able to introduce the law himself because the deadline for submitting new bills has passed. But he said he will ask other legislators to add the measure to similar bills that propose amendments to the Government Code.

Katz said he expects to find an author for the measure this week. If the bill is approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor, it could become law Jan. 1.

Nakamura, who works with San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services Inc., welcomed Katz’s proposal but said it might not help his clients get their money back.

“I think it’s great that he supports the position that my clients are taking--that the charges are completely unjust,” Nakamura said. “But the state law would only change the future. It wouldn’t change the past.”

Deputy City Atty. John F. Haggerty, who represents the Department of Public Works and other utility agencies, said he was unsure how the proposed measure would affect the city’s sewer billing procedures.

The city sends out annual notices to water customers advising septic tank users to seek sewer fee exemptions. However, Nakamura said many people are unable to understand the notices, which are written only in English.