[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATER QUALITY - 2/29/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

February 29, 2008

 

4. Water Quality

 

O.C. sewer district board OKs 61.5% rate increase; Customers will see rate increase of about 10% annually for next 5 years

Orange County Register – 2/29/08

By Julie Anne Ines, staff writer

 

FOUNTAIN VALLEY – The Orange County Sanitation District Board of Directors has approved a rate increase that will ultimately lead to a 61.5 percent jump in the current sewer rate over five years.

 

The rate increase – passed Wednesday night on a 17-6 vote – needed the approval of two-thirds of board members present to pass.

 

The rate will affect most cities in north and central Orange County and some unincorporated areas. Customers will see a 10 percent average increase annually over the next five years.

 

The increase should show up on customers' next property tax bill, according to sanitation district spokeswoman Jennifer Cabral.

 

With the average 10 percent annual increase, the sewer rate for single-family residences will increase from the current rate of $182 per year to $201 in 2008-09 and to $294 in 2012-13.

 

Lorenzo Tyner, the director of finance and administrative services for the sanitation district, has said the increase is needed to fund the district's capital improvement program, which requires almost $1.5 billion in the next 10 years.

 

Opponents say the rate increase is too high. The board meeting was full of residents from the district's service area who argued against it.

 

The 25-member board of directors is made up of an elected official from each of the sewer agencies, cities within the district service area, and a representative from the county Board of Supervisors.

 

Representatives from Fullerton, Garden Grove, Placentia, Anaheim, Orange, and the Midway City Sanitary District voted against the ordinance.

 

County representative Chris Norby and Christina Shea, the Irvine city representative, were absent.

 

Projects in the district's capital improvement program include implementing secondary sewage treatment that would comply with the federal Clean Water Act by December 2012 and funding rehabilitation projects to replace the district's aging infrastructure.

 

A small portion of the fees would also go toward paying off the debt the district incurred after borrowing money to fund the Groundwater Replenishment System, a joint project of the sanitation district and the Orange County Water District, Tyner said.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/district-increase-rate-1989706-county-board

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