Oxnard May Raise Utility Rates 7.5% Per Month : Public works: If plan is OKd in June, the average residential customer would pay $62.08 for water, trash and sewer services.

The Oxnard City Council agreed Tuesday to hike utility rates more than $4 a month starting in July.

Under a proposal tentatively endorsed by the council, an average residential customer would pay $62.08 per month--a 7.5% increase--for water, trash and sewer services.

Currently, the average resident pays $57.75 a month for those services, a difference of $4.33. The council is expected to finalize the decision in June when it adopts the city budget for fiscal year 1993-94.

“I don’t want to increase any rates, but I don’t think we’re going to get away with that,” said Councilman Michael Plisky of the rate hikes that are needed largely to cover increased operating and maintenance costs.

Under the new rate structure, the average residential customer will pay $20.02 for water service, $19.36 for trash disposal and $22.70 for sewer service. Utility rates for commercial and industrial users also will increase.

Although few residents attended Tuesday’s council meeting, some in the audience opposed the rate hikes.

“If we didn’t have any increases what would happen?” longtime resident Elizar Hernandez asked council members. “I believe we can do without these increases. The consumer is already struggling to survive.”

Originally, city staff members said they expected to increase the average utility bill by 15%. But by delaying a water main replacement project and making other adjustments, the city’s staff last week revised that projection to 9.8%.

The council further whittled down the increase on Tuesday.

Council members considered several alternatives for raising rates, including one that would have boosted the average bill of a residential customer to $63.40.

Under that plan, the city would have continued with a longstanding policy to dilute its well water, which is high in dissolved solids, with higher-quality water from the Calleguas Municipal Water District.

Instead, council members elected to lower the water blend ratio, lowering the quality of water but saving customers $800,000 next fiscal year.

“I think we can all handle more solids in our water considering the alternative,” Councilman Tom Holden said.

Added Plisky: “I think we need to go the route of least pain.”

Mayor Manuel Lopez asked public works officials whether residents would be able to tell the difference between the old blend and the new.

“They won’t be able to tell by drinking, they won’t be able to tell by odor,” Public Works Director Jim Frandsen assured the mayor and the council. “People will never notice, there will be no discernible difference.” The lower-quality water will pose no health risks, he said.

Under the new fee structure, Oxnard will become the city with the third highest utility rates in Ventura County.

Only Ojai, at $70.92 a month, and Ventura, where the monthly rate is $70.78, charge more, Oxnard officials said.

The countywide average for water, trash and sewer services is $55.50. Port Hueneme, which charges residential customers $36.19 a month for those services, has the lowest utility rates in the county.

Frandsen told the council that the city’s high utility rates are due in part to debt service on capital improvement projects, including the $50-million expansion two years ago of a sewer plant at Ormond Beach.

“I think our utility systems are in excellent shape,” Frandsen said. “Unfortunately, someone’s got to pay for them and I don’t see any easy way of doing that.”