District plans hike of trash, sewer rates

Costa Mesa Sanitary District officials plan to boost sewer- and trash-collection fees to meet higher state standards and increased garbage loads, but one city councilman is questioning the need to raise rates.

A public meeting is planned in July on the proposed fee increases, which are 8% for trash fees and 20% for sewer fees. If the higher fees are approved by the sanitary district board, they would be retroactive to July 1.

Charges to a single-family residence will go from about $31 to $38 a year for sewer fees, and from about $239 to $258 for trash pickup. The average sewer rate in Orange County is $84 a year. Trash pickup and sewer fees were raised last in August 2005.

The district needs more money to cover increased trash pickups, sanitary district director Rob Hamers said. Although the number of households the district serves ? about 21,300, mostly in Costa Mesa ? hasn’t changed in six years, the amount of trash has risen nearly 30%. Hamers is not sure why it has increased from 35,500 tons a year to 46,000 tons expected this year.

“We’ve looked at every factor that’s possible. It’s either more people per residence or there is construction and debris material, which is not allowed in trash containers,” he said.

Sewer rates are going up for several reasons, Hamers said. The district must replace two sewer cleaning trucks that cost as much as $250,000 apiece; sewer lines are in dire need of maintenance; and state standards are now higher for preventing sewage spills and keeping water clean.

The first two issues Hamers blames on Costa Mesa. The district bought its own building in 2004 so it could move out of City Hall and have more space. And the sanitary district had a cooperative relationship with the city. Some of its offices were in City Hall, and the district contracted with some city workers to maintain sewer lines.

But when the district ended its relationship with the city, Hamers said, the city kept the cleaning trucks the district had bought.

Poor sewer line maintenance by city workers led to pump station failures and the need for more cleaning now, Hamers said.

Councilman Gary Monahan isn’t convinced there’s a need for the hikes. He complained about the fee boost at Tuesday’s council meeting, and he said on Friday that he still has questions.

“I know their costs have gone up ? I know they’ve gone up considerably, and I think it’s directly due to their separation from the city,” Monahan said.

He said district officials wanted to move to their own new building and hire their own people instead of continuing to work with the city, and that may have led to some of the added operational costs.

“I would first like to see them work on cutting their costs before we have a rate hike,” Monahan said. “If the city was to raise taxes any amount, we have to go to a vote. They can justify it because it’s fees, but I still think they have to make that case.”

Hamers said it’s not like the fee increase was kept a secret, so Monahan could easily have gotten more information.

“This has been a topic at each of our monthly public meetings for the last 12 months,” he said.

The sanitary district sent postcards in early June to inform residents of the proposed rate increase. A public meeting on the rates will be held at 6 p.m. July 24 at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Ave.