Waste Treatment Plan Could Bring Up to 50% Fee Hike

Los Angeles residents could see fees for sewage and storm-water treatment increase by up to 50% during the next decade if the city moves ahead with a $2-billion plan to expand its waste-treatment plants.

The city must make the investment to accommodate the expected 20% growth in the city’s population by 2020, and to comply with tougher environmental rules, officials said.

Unless the city expands treatment plants to handle another 100 million gallons of sewage per day, Los Angeles may not be able to allow more homes and businesses to be built for the growing population, said Adel Hagekhalil of the city Bureau of Sanitation. “You can’t do new development if you don’t have the wastewater capacity,” Hagekhalil said.

City planners have come up with four alternatives to meet the goals of an improved system. They include increasing the capacity entirely at the Hyperion Treatment Plant near the ocean, or spreading the expansion to other plants in the system, including the Tillman Treatment Plant in the San Fernando Valley.

Some residents already are voicing concerns about the possibility that sewer service fees could go up substantially for existing customers.

The average Los Angeles household pays $63 per month for sewage and storm-water treatment and related water recycling programs. That bill could go up $25 to $31 depending on which of four alternatives the city eventually settles on. The rate increases probably would not begin showing up on bills until 2010 or later.

The prospect of such sizable hikes troubles Encino resident Gerald Silver, who was briefed on the alternatives Thursday.

“I think the growth [in population] needs to pay for the growth in sewage treatment capacity,” said Silver, who is a member of a city advisory group on waste treatment issues as well as president of the Homeowners of Encino. “It’s unfair to take expansion costs, divide them among the current residents, and say here’s your new sewer bill.”

The advisory group asked Thursday for more time and information before endorsing the four alternatives for further environmental study.

Hagekhalil said the city is still weighing how much of the increased cost to bill existing residents and businesses versus new customers that are creating the demand. He said the final decision will depend on input from some 50 community meetings planned by the city.