One-Year, 15% Sewer Fee Hike OKd

Operators of Orange County’s largest sewer system adopted a compromise Wednesday that will hike rates 15% next year and require any further increases to be evaluated and approved by the agency’s leadership on a year-to-year basis.

The deal was reached by the Orange County Sanitation District board of directors after a proposal to double sewer fees over the next five years fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority by a single vote.

Board members, however, salvaged the five-year package of rate hikes by passing, on a 17-8 vote, a 15% rate increase for next year and heavily conditioning those proposed for the other four years.

Those rate hikes must be reviewed by the board and passed by a two-thirds majority.

“This is at least one step in the right direction,” said Anaheim City Councilwoman Shirley McCracken, who chairs the district’s 25-member board.

“We need to determine what the next steps are going to be and see how this plays out in the next few years.”

Under the new rates, annual fees will increase from $87.50 to slightly more than $100 per single-family home. Average rates for businesses that do not need discharge permits will increase by at least $142 next year, district figures show.

Rate increases will average $1,938 for 500 large users with waste-water permits, such as hospitals, universities, manufacturing plants and major commercial operations.

About 500,000 district customers can expect to see the increase included in their December property tax bills. The agency serves about 2.4 million people and 22 cities in northern and central Orange County.

The compromise, offered by Newport Beach Councilman Tod Ridgeway, passed after board member Brian Brady, a representative of the Irvine Ranch Water District, changed his vote from no to yes on the proposed hikes.

The measure is similar to a failed motion Brady made at last week’s board meeting.

“We are probably going to have further rate increases,” Brady said, “but this preserves full public participation and holds us to a higher standard. We are going to have to take a hard look” at proposed expenditures year to year.

Sanitation district officials say the rate hikes are necessary to finance a $2.37-billion capital improvement project over the next decade.

The list of 130 proposed projects includes new sewer lines, replacing old mains and pumps, secondary treatment for all sewage, and groundwater replenishment programs to keep seawater from intruding into aquifers.

“We are planning to spend in 10 years what we have spent in the last 50,” said Blake Anderson, the district’s general manager. “We have never spent so much money in such a short time. We know it has to be done.”

Board members who supported the compromise said it will begin the process to make improvements and provide them the flexibility to set spending priorities and look for ways to save money.

Those opposed to the hikes said they were too much to ask of ratepayers in this difficult economic time. They questioned whether the capital improvement program was too ambitious and were concerned the increases were not “business-friendly.”

Last week, board members could not muster the two-thirds majority needed to double rates over five years or pass a compromise that called for a one-year boost in rates of 15%.

During that meeting, about 200 citizens turned out at district headquarters to listen to almost six hours of public testimony and board debate. They filled the boardroom and gathered around loudspeakers outside.

About 10 speakers supported some kind of rate increase to help pay for the planned capital improvement project.

But most of the 55 people who testified decried the rate hikes, saying they would hurt retirees, low-wage earners and people on fixed incomes.

In contrast, about 25 people showed up at Wednesday’s meeting. More than a dozen testified before the board, the majority in support of the rate hikes.