Los Angeles Sewer Fees Going Up

Sewer charges in Los Angeles will rise 77 percent over a decade under a plan approved today by the City Council to provide funding for replacing or repairing about 60 miles of the 6,400-mile sewer system each year.

The council voted 13-0 to raise the average $30 monthly sanitation bill to about $53 per month 10 years from now.

Department of Water and Power bills, which include the charge, will rise about 4.5 percent in each of the first three years. From 2014 to 2021, sewer charges will rise 6.5 percent annually.

The hikes will raise $1.9 billion that would be spent on repairing or replacing sewer line and unspecified capital projects.

Bureau of Sanitation General Manager Enrique Zaldivar said the increases were needed because about 50 percent of the city's sewer system is 70 years old, close to the average 80-year life span of municipal sewer systems. About 20 percent of the pipes are older than 70 years.

Zaldivar said emergency repairs can cost up to seven times as much as preventative maintenance.

Council members thanked the bureau for explaining the need for rate increases to the public, noting the lack of opposition to the increases during the council meeting.

The bureau held close to 70 outreach meetings over the past three months with neighborhood councils, chambers of commerce and other community groups in an attempt to win support for rate increases. Zaldivar told the council the department received very positive feedback.

"There is never a good time to raise rates," City Councilman Tony Cardenas said, but he called the increases "modest" relative to needed infrastructure improvements. He also noted the rates would remain on the low end of similar charges in other cities.

San Francisco charges about $85 per month, and San Diego charges about $48 per month.

Over the past 20 years, the city has kept customer rates mostly flat, borrowing to pay for improvements and emergency repairs.

As it is, the city is on track to replace sewer lines and upgrade treatment plants every 168 years, more than twice as long as advisable, officials said.

The proposed rate increase also would create a fund to help property owners fix sewer line breaks between the home and the main line. Replacing lines on private property can cost up to about $20,000 in some cases.

Despite the council vote, the increase is not guaranteed. The bureau's 640,000 customers will receive a notice about the fee increase in. If more than 50 percent protest the rates, the increases will not take effect without more hearings.