Council Expected to Raise Sewer Rate

The City Council Wednesday is slated to increase sewer rates by five percent next fiscal year.

The sewer rate would rise to $532 per year from $507 per year. This amounts to a $2.08 monthly increase, according to a city council staff report.

The rate increase is the third year of a five-year rate plan. Rates went up by 20 percent in fiscal year 2009-10, 10 percent in 2010-11 and are projected to stay the same in 2012-13 and 2013-14. 

The increase will be used to fund operations and improvements to the city’s Water Quality Control Plant and sewer system, including sewage pump stations as well as pay for debt service and comply with state and federal environmental regulations, the staff report says.

Terry White, director of Public Works, said the city has deferred infrastructure improvements at the water plant, including replacing an emergency backup generator.

The city also needs to address issues with its discharge permit. During a storm when the sewer system gets overwhelmed the city sometimes blends partially treated wastewater with fully treated sewage, White said. 

The city also needs to find an alternative to releasing fully treated discharges into Colma Creek as opposed to a mile out into the Bay, he said.

“We have to study these things and look at alternative ways and means of doing it,” White said.

The city’s plant treats 13 million gallons of wastewater per day.

White said the city is developing plans to install solar panels on the plant and to increase the amount of electricity it generates with methane.

As part of a , the city will gradually have to reduce its sewage spill rates.

The city is also considering whether to change the sewer rate pricing model to charge residents based on how much water they use and restructure prices for apartment buildings.

But White said city officials are concerned about losing revenue. In 2009, industrial businesses east of Highway 101, which pay based on volume of water, used considerably less water due to the economic slump.

“We lost about a $1 million worth of income from that,” he said.

Plus, if sewer rates were reduced for apartment owners, for example, the revenue would have to come from some other user, White said.

“If you take it away from one you are going to have to shift that burden to somebody else,” he said.

Even with the rate increase the city’s sewer charge is among the lowest in San Mateo County, according to a city analysis. Annual rates range from $2,914 in Montara Sanitary District to $365 in Granada Sanitary District.