O.C. Sanitation Board OKs Major Rate Hikes

The county’s sanitation board on Wednesday approved big increases in sewer service rates, despite protests from several residents.

With the board’s action, sewer rates in some parts of the county will more than double over the next decade, with some annual bills rising by $100 or more. Other parts of the county would see more modest rate hikes.

Board members and sanitation district officials said the increases are necessary to continue high-quality service and noted that they are the first in seven years.

“We need to provide adequate funding to ensure our environmental stewardship at all times,” said Don McIntyre, general manager of the Sanitation Districts of Orange County.

Several residents, however, complained that the increases are too high and should be rejected.

“These rates are hitting the poorest areas of the county hardest,” said Judy Edge of Santa Ana. “There are people in my city who are barely making it as it is. This is just too high.”

Officials insist that the sewage rate increases must be imposed to bring in the revenue needed to pay for improvements to aging sewer lines and waste water treatment facilities, as well as to meet strict environmental rules.

The sanitation districts, which serve more than 2 million residents north of the El Toro Y, now treat about 240 million gallons of sewage a day before dumping most of the treated effluent five miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean.

By 2005, the agency expects to handle 300 million gallons of waste a day, which would require construction of a new water reclamation plant or a new outflow system that would run from existing treatment plants to an ocean discharge point. Either project would cost about $200 million.

The agency sets sewer rates in eight districts, each of which charges property owners a different rate based on several factors, including elevation and the age of the sewer system. Six of the districts will see rate increases under the proposal, and three will see their charges double over the next eight years.