Sewer costs could go up

Orange County Sanitation District officials are proposing to boost the sewer service rate for single-family residential units about 62% over the next five years.

The planned increase — aimed at covering the rising costs of operation, the county’s new wastewater treatment plant, and upgrading the county’s aging infrastructure — would boost rates about 10% every year until 2013, the last year of the five-year projection.

Annual rates for single-family units are $182 and would ultimately rise to $294. If approved, the rate for the next fiscal year will be $201.

The rate increase would affect only those who receive their sewer services from the county, and some other customers — such as people who live in multifamily units or industrial buildings — will receive different rates, depending on the amount of sewage they create, district spokeswoman Jennifer Cabral said.

While it remains too early to say where the rates will go beyond the proposed five-year plan, Chairman James Ferryman estimated a lower annual increase after 2013 — perhaps dropping from a 10% raise a year to about 2% to 4%, or less.

“All the other counties that are around our size are much higher than our charge — we’re the lowest of all the major counties in the state, like San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.

“Believe me,” he added, “We have on our board 25 directors, 23 of which are either mayors or council members throughout the cities that are serviced — we don’t want to raise the rates, but if we don’t do these important upgrades to ensure the quality of what we’re doing, we’re irresponsible.”

Ferryman pointed to the county’s sewer infrastructure — some of which is more than 50 years old — and added that the agency is in desperate need of maintenance to ensure that sewer pipes don’t break. That could cost taxpayers far more than the projected increase. Operating costs, including chemicals employed at treatments plants, have also risen over time.

“It’s just like any other business,” he said.

The district’s board will present two public hearings — one on Jan. 23 and another on Feb. 27.

The meeting will take place at the district’s office at 6:30 p.m. at 10844 Ellis Ave., Fountain Valley.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.