Water systems need fixes, badly; customers don't want to fund them
Ryan Lillis and Matt Weiser
The Sacramento Bee
01/30/2012
From mountain hamlets to Sacramento City Hall, governments are asking taxpayers to dig deeper into their pockets to improve sewer and water systems.
And people are pushing back.
Local officials say they need the money to upgrade outdated water-treatment facilities, sewer lines and water mains. In some cases, improvements are required just to comply with the law.
No matter how justified they say the rate hikes are, however, some elected officials have found it hard to follow through in the face of public protests.
"You have this balance you have to find," said Doug Brown, vice chairman of Sacramento's Utilities Rate Advisory Commission. "There is aging infrastructure, but with the economy, it's a very difficult time for people to be paying more."
Sacramento is among the cities hiking rates. Utility officials have proposed raising monthly bills by $19 over the next three years. The Utilities Rate Advisory Commission has delayed taking action on the proposed new rates until later this week.
Brown has proposed rate increases slightly lower than those utilities officials want.
The added revenue from the increases would help the city issue nearly $350 million in bonds for several public works projects, including a $152 million rehabilitation of an 80-year-old water-treatment plant north of downtown and $57 million for water meter installation.
"Clearly there's a need; Sacramento is a very old town," Brown said. "When it comes to our underground infrastructure, it's only a matter of time."
But he also understands the pressure on ratepayers to fund improvements.
"It's everything piling on top of one another," he said.
Elsewhere in the region, similar plans have angered residents. Bowing to irate customers, the Carmichael Water District last week scaled back rate increases scheduled for future years. Ratepayers will still see their bills go up 18 percent this year to compensate for reduced water consumption in the district.
Voters in Foresthill last year rejected a rate hike their water district had proposed. But in that case, water officials fought back: the Foresthill Public Utility District board declared the public vote invalid and will go back to voters in June with a rate increase.
The need to replace aging pipes and treatment facilities is one big factor driving rate hikes across the region. But it isn't the only one.
