High Utility Rates Not Reflected in Better Services : Prices: Survey finds water, sewer and trash costs vary by geography and policy. Ventura is costly for homeowners, but Port Hueneme is a comparative bargain.

Ventura resident Shelli Brennan thinks there must be a cheaper place to live than her city by the sea.

Brennan is right.

The same amount of water, sewer and trash service that costs the Brennan family of five nearly $70 a month in Ventura would come to less than $60 in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks and just $40 in Port Hueneme, which has the cheapest services of any city in the county.

Only in Ojai and Westlake, where private companies supply water and sewer services, would the Brennans’ bills be higher.

“We don’t like it,” Brennan said. “But when you are forced to use them, what are you going to do?”

The Brennan family bills have fallen victim to Ventura’s public-works philosophy. Trying to encourage conservation, the city has constructed a tiered rating system that penalizes residents who throw away mounds of garbage and consume more than a modicum of water.

“What a public service they’re doing,” said Brennan, who orders her 13-year-old to take shorter showers, turns off the faucet when she’s brushing her teeth and lets her lawn go brown during the summer, all in an attempt to keep her water bills in check. “We’ll just have to thank them.”

A survey of Ventura County’s 10 cities and their service agencies shows that rates vary widely, although higher prices do not necessarily equal higher quality, the survey found.

The survey also showed that:

* Although Bailard Landfill dropped its dumping rates by 25% last year, none of the West County cities that send their garbage there lowered residents’ trash rates in response.

* East County residents on average use twice as much water as their West County counterparts, a difference city officials attribute to the bigger lots and drier conditions east of the Camarillo Grade.

* Port Hueneme charges the lowest rates of any city in the county--flat fees of $11 a month for water, $15 a month for sewer and $14.80 a month for trash. But Port Hueneme has no curbside recycling program and, its officials admit, very poor quality water.

* Santa Paula has no recycling program at all. City officials say they are studying the issue.

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Many city officials and service providers discourage this kind of examination, which stacks one agency against another.

“It’s difficult to compare what’s going on,” said Tom Schiarodit, the recycling coordinator for E.J. Harrison & Sons, which is the trash hauler for most of western Ventura County. “There’s a tremendous amount of variables.”

But most homeowners don’t read the city staff reports that explain such variables. All they see are their bills, some of which can seem exorbitant.

“I know they’re too high,” grumbled Sam Briglio of Ojai.

WATER

Anita Shaffer, a homeowner in Newbury Park, just can’t understand why her family’s water bills have skyrocketed in the last decade. These days, to keep a half acre of land green and well tended, she pays about $200 a month for water. And yes, she installed low-flow toilets and shower heads years ago.

“It’s annoying,” she said. “I feel sorry for people on fixed incomes.”

Shaffer is not exaggerating--water costs have risen dramatically, particularly in the last few years.

Driven by inflation, tougher federal and state water standards, and the cost of building new facilities, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, for example, has nearly doubled its charges in the last 10 years. The MWD is the primary or secondary water supplier to Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Oxnard and Camarillo. MWD water cost $224 per acre-foot in the 1985-86 fiscal year. It costs $412 per acre-foot today. (The average Southern California household uses about one-half acre-foot of water a year, MWD officials say.)

But across-the-board increases are not the only reason for customer dissatisfaction. Those who compare bills with their neighbors in other parts of the county--or even in some cases, other parts of the city--find they are paying more for the same product.

Shaffer, like her neighbors in Newbury Park, is served by the private California American Water Co., which receives MWD water through another intermediary. The city supplies water to the central third of Thousand Oaks and another private company services the Westlake area.

City officials estimate that a typical Conejo Valley household consumes 2,200 cubic feet of water, or 16,456 gallons, each month.

By that standard, a typical California American Water customer would pay about $51.70. In central Thousand Oaks, that water bill would total only $40.83. To the north, in Fillmore, which has one of the lowest water rates in the county, the same customer would pay $25.30 for the water--or less than half what California American charges.

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Officials say Thousand Oaks water is pricier because Conejo Valley agencies import every drop from the MWD, which gets it via the California Aqueduct from Northern California. In Fillmore, by contrast, a plethora of underground wells means the city can pump all its water locally, dramatically reducing costs.

But that still leaves a large discrepancy between the rates of Newbury Park’s private company and Thousand Oaks’ public water agency. Officials in cities around the county say private agencies enjoy larger profit margins than their public counterparts. But California American officials say their company’s costs are higher than those of the city.

“We don’t have other incomes, as a city might, to offset water rates,” said Diane Anderson, California American’s office manager.

Just because California American charges more than the city of Thousand Oaks doesn’t mean its customers will use less water. Officials say consumption often depends more on geography and lifestyle than upon actual fees.

East County residents in general use more water than their West County counterparts--about 16,500 gallons of water a month for the typical East County household, compared to about 6,700 in Ventura and approximately 10,500 in Camarillo.

City officials say this is because the East County is inland and dry and many East County residents are wealthier than their West County neighbors, with bigger homes and bigger lots.

High rates do not always translate into better water.

To be sure, officials in Port Hueneme attribute their low fees in part to the poor quality of the water they provide. The quality will rise, along with the rates, when the city begins mixing local well water with imported water in the next few years, officials say.

But over in Ojai, Southern California Water Co. levies one of the highest residential fees in the county, yet some homeowners go to great lengths to avoid drinking the water.

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Ojai City Councilwoman Nina Shelley said the water coming out of her pipes is practically unusable. She runs it through a water softener before she will let it flow through her faucets, and even then, it tastes so bad that she buys all her drinking water at the grocery store.

Officials at Southern California Water say Shelley obviously can’t handle organic water pumped straight out of the soil. Frank Bennett, the district superintendent, said he generally hears few complaints from residents.

But Shelley remains unconvinced.

“I wouldn’t drink it for anything in the world,” she declared.

SEWER

At first glance, there seems to be little rhyme or reason to sewage fees.

The Thousand Oaks residents who subscribe to the city’s sewage agency pay $10.50 a month--the least for waste water treatment of any homeowners in the county. By contrast, homeowners in neighboring Westlake pay $20.50 each month to the private Triunfo Sanitation District, and the county average is $17.96 a month.

Don Nelson, Thousand Oaks’ director of public works, said the city’s low fees are no accident. In fact, the city has not raised its sewer rates since 1987, he said.

Nelson said this is because, years ago, the city planned wisely. Officials established a savings account in the late 1960s, designed to fund construction of new facilities, and in the late 1970s began another fund that now pays for all replacement costs at the waste water-treatment plant.

Camarillo, by contrast, charges its homeowners double what Thousand Oaks does. John Elwell, Camarillo’s director of community services, said that if the city had planned better years ago, perhaps its rates might be closer to those of its neighbor to the east.

As it is, Camarillo homeowners pay $21.06 each month in sewer fees, a large chunk of which goes for a construction project at the city’s treatment plant.

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Like Camarillo and Thousand Oaks, most cities in the county simply charge a flat rate for sewer services--except Ventura, which tiers its sewer rates just as it does its water rates. City officials explain that this is supposed to give residents--in a city that suffered severe water shortages in the latest drought-- an extra incentive to cut back on use.

Thus, the average Ventura household, using 900 cubic feet of water a month, would pay only about $15 a month in sewer fees, city officials said. But if that customer used 1,500 cubic feet of water, which is closer to the usage of other residents in the county, the bill would rise to $23.65 a month, making it the second-highest sewage bill in the county, after Ojai.

Faced with this double whammy of high sewer and high water bills, many Ventura residents say they try to rein in their family’s water usage. But it can get frustrating, some say, especially when the council votes in a new rate increase as it did in the spring.

“If it keeps going up, there’s going to be an outcry,” said Bob Rose, an accountant who lives and works in Ventura. “People are going to say ‘Enough is enough.’ ”

TRASH

Ventura officials say they are already getting an earful from residents irate about the city’s latest trash rate hike. The fees went up last month to help pay for a new yard waste recycling program, but yard waste pickup did not start until this month.

Now Ventura homeowners pay about $2 extra on each trash bill. Where the haulers once picked up recycling rubbish every week, now they pick it up every other week, alternating it with yard waste pickup.

Mayor Tom Buford said he can see how homeowners might be upset.

“The trash rates have generated some ongoing concern,” he said. “I appreciate the fact that people don’t like to pay that much. But as you get into the blow-by-blow process, however, that’s where we’ve come out.”

Like the other cities that truck trash to Oxnard’s Bailard Landfill, Ventura did not lower its rates when Bailard’s dumping fees dropped early this year from $44.50 a ton to $33.50 a ton.

Ventura officials said they anticipated the rate drop in 1993 and, as a result, did not raise residents’ fees that year. Camarillo city staff said they responded by hiking trash charges less than they would have without the increase.

In Oxnard, some of the extra funds paid for new city programs like hazardous-waste collection days, which the county stopped providing when it dropped the fees at Bailard, city officials said. The rest of the savings were stashed in a reserve account for emergencies, officials said.

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In general, West County cities traditionally have charged more for trash services than East County cities. Officials used to explain away that difference by noting that the Simi Valley Landfill and other trash dumps in Los Angeles County charged substantially less than Bailard did.

But now, the Simi Valley Landfill charges about the same as Bailard. And the price differences remain.

For $14.90 a month, a Simi Valley resident can throw away 90 gallons of garbage, 90 gallons of yard waste and an unlimited amount of recyclables. For $17.60 a month, a Thousand Oaks homeowner can set out on the curb four 45-gallon trash cans and unlimited recyclables.

Over in the West County, the prices are steeper. An Oxnard resident paying $17.17 a month receives only a 60-gallon trash can and a basket for recyclables, under which bagged newspapers can be stacked. To receive service similar to that which Simi Valley residents enjoy for less than $15, an Ojai homeowner must shell out $21.65 a month.

Port Hueneme is the only West County city that provides more than 40 gallons of trash service a week for less than $18 a month. The catch is, for the city’s flat fee of $14.80 a month, residents must haul their own recyclables to one of 15 centers dotted about the city.

West County officials say they are mystified as to why the East County cities can charge so little and provide so much service.

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Perhaps, said Steve Chase, Ventura’s environmental affairs coordinator, his city needs to re-examine its rate structure.

“There seems to me to be no excuse for why we seem to be out of line,” he said. “If we are more expensive, then we need to address that.”

Still, every city is steps ahead of Santa Paula, which has no municipal recycling program at all.

“We’ve sat here and debated, ‘When do we make the jump?’ ” said Norman Wilkinson, Santa Paula’s public works director.

Because state law stipulates that cities must reduce the trash they dump at the landfill by 25% by 1995, Santa Paula plans to make the jump soon. For the last four years, city officials have kept one nervous eye on that percentage and another on the county recycling situation, waiting to see which city would build a trash-sorting center and come to Santa Paula’s rescue.

No one did. Today, less than three months shy of the target year, Santa Paula residents are still free to set out as much garbage as the curb can hold, and any recycling they do is their own business.

In the meantime, much to Wilkinson’s surprise, the county reports that Santa Paula is making great progress toward the 1995 goal. County figures released last winter show that Santa Paula has reduced its landfill dumping by 28% since 1990, though the city’s best estimate is 11%.

“We’re not sure where those numbers come from,” he said. “We’re not sure how accurate they are.” And, he added, “they are one more reason” not to spend more money on recycling.

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It is the inevitability of it all that frustrates many residents----that no matter how much they try to conserve, or how much outside companies lower their fees, their bills continue to grow.

“Now that we have to recycle everything, where is all the money going to?” asks Ojai resident Sam Briglio. “That never comes back. The rates just keep going up.”

Officials across the county say they sympathize and are doing the best they can. In Simi Valley, they brag about their thrifty trash-hauling contract. In Thousand Oaks, officials applaud their ability to keep sewage fees so low.

But rising expenses and increasing regulation, city leaders say, mean that ultimately, no one will escape higher bills in the coming years.

“I appreciate the fact that people don’t like to pay that much,” Ventura Mayor Buford said. “But it’s probably going to cost more in the future.”

Your Cost for Trash

City What you can dump What you pay Port Hueneme One 101-gallon trash bin* $14.80 Can take recyclables to one of 15 centers around the city * Simi Valley Two 45-gal. trash bins* $14.90 Two 45-gal. yard waste bins* Unlimited recycling* Oxnard One 60-gallon can* $17.17 A recycling basket plus unlimited newspaper recycling * or One 105-gal. trash can* $20.67 A recycling basket plus unlimited newspaper recycling * Moorpark Four 45-gal. trash cans* $17.22 Unlimited recycling* Thousand Oaks Four 45-gal. trash cans* $17.60 Unlimited recycling* Santa Paula Unlimited trash pickup* $18.40 Ventura Unlimited recycling one week and one 96-gallon yard waste can the next plus One 64-gallon trash can* $19.26 or One 101-gal. trash can* $28.47 Camarillo One 101-gallon trash bin* $19.99 Unlimited recycling* Fillmore One 64-gallon trash can* $20.99 One 101-gallon yard waste can one week, then unlimited recyclables the next * Ojai One 101-gallon trash can* $21.65 One 101-gallon yard- waste can one week, then unlimited recyclables the next *

* Many cities offer 34-gallon cans. Some cities offer reduced rates for senior citizens.

Source: Various cities

Utility Rates

The cost per month in each of the county’s cities assumes that 1,500 cubic feet (11,220 gallons) of water is used and the trash container is at least 60 gallons.

Port Hueneme

Water: $11.00

Sewer: $15.00

Trash: $14.80

Total: $40.80

Yearly total: $489.60

Fillmore

Water: $17.25

Sewer: $11.50

Trash: $20.99

Total: $49.74

Yearly total: $596.88

Santa Paula

Water: $24.69

Sewer: $9.90

Trash: $18.40

Total: $52.99

Yearly total: $635.88

Moorpark

Water: $24.22

Sewer: $13.00

Trash: $17.22

Total: $54.44

Yearly total: $653.28

Simi Valley

(east and west ends)

Water: $26.62

Sewer: $15.00

Trash: $14.90

Total: $56.52

Yearly total: $678.24

Thousand Oaks

(central)

Water: $30.05

Sewer: $10.50

Trash: $17.60

Total: $58.15

Yearly total: $697.80

Simi Valley

(central)

Water: $28.55

Sewer: $15.00

Trash: $14.90

Total: $58.45

Yearly total: $701.40

Oxnard

Water: $21.29

Sewer: $20.65

Trash: $17.17

Total: $59.11

Yearly total: $709.32

Camarillo

Water: $26.12

Sewer: $21.06

Trash: $19.99

Total: $67.17

Yearly total: $806.04

Ventura

Water: $25.02

Sewer: $23.65

Trash: $19.26

Total: $67.93

Yearly total: $815.16

Thousand Oaks

(Newbury Park)

Water: $39.90

Sewer: $10.50

Trash: $17.60

Total: $68.00

Yearly total: $816.00

Thousand Oaks

(Westlake)

Water: $32.31

Sewer: $20.50

Trash: $17.60

Total: $70.41

Yearly total: $844.92

Ojai

Water: $28.56

Sewer: $26.83

Trash: $21.65

Total: $77.04

Yearly total: $924.48

Source: Various cities