Pali Patch Poll: Are Hikes in the Sewer Rates Justified?

The city of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation wants to raise sewer fees to pay for much-needed repairs and replacements of its aging sewers, as well as pay off its debt. On September 13, the city council Energy and Environment Committee decided to postpone voting on the proposed rate hike.

However, on September 8, Lisa Mowery, chief financial officer for the Bureau of Sanitation, gave a presentation at a meeting of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, laying out what the bureau wants to do and how it wants to pay for the work.

The proposed plan includes a sanitation service fee increase that would almost double fees over a period of 10 years, from approximately $29.88 (fiscal year 2010/2011) to $52.99 in 2020/2021. The actual rate is based on how much wastewater is generated by a residence, so these figures reflect what a typical single family residence generates.

“At the end of the ten years, when the rates have doubled, you are still going to be at the middle or lower than most majors cities in the United States if America,” Daniel Hackney, special project manager for the Bureau, told the meeting. 

The Bureau of Sanitation has an outstanding debt principal of $2.7 billion. Mowery said that the plan is to pay off $200 million of the principal over the next 10 years. 

Los Angeles has four treatment plants, with over 6700 miles of sewer lines that treat 350 million gallons of wastewater daily. The average life of a sewer is 80 years and based on the current budget, the Bureau of Sanitation can only afford to replace the lines every 168 years. Currently there are 50 projects underway to repair old sewer lines and build new ones.