Story Created:
Aug 26, 2010 at 10:31 AM PST
Story Updated:
Aug 26, 2010 at 10:31 AM PST
WHITTIER — Residents face increases in their water, sewer and trash hauling bills as of Sept. 1 following the required public hearings before the City Council Aug. 10.
Public Works Director David Pelser said the increases are about $1.58 a month for sewer fees, approximately $5.88 a month for water and 16 cents a month for trash hauling services, which includes street sweeping and curbside recycling pickups.
The City Council, sitting as the Whittier Utility Authority, approved a .79 percent hike for those services.
It means homeowners will pay $17.60 for trash pickup, up 14 cents a month; $1.52 for recycling pickup, up one cent; and $1.62 for street sweeping, up one cent. The total increase from the current $20.58 a month is 16 cents to $20.74.
Pelser noted that trash fees are based on the Consumer Price Index, which has gone up 1.44 percent.
Although trash hauling and dumping fees are expected to remain stable in the coming year, the city must contribute to the costs of closing the county landfill in Puente Hills by 2013 and moving to new sites in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Pelser said.
He said a 14.3 percent hike in water fees are needed to pay for high operating and maintenance costs. That will mean a hike of $5.88 a month to $49 for the average homeowner on a three-fourth inch water meter using about 20 units a month at $2.35 per unit. A unit is about 100 cubic feet of water or 748 gallons.
The cost increases with larger meters and more usage.
Whittier’s water system serves the western part of the city from wells in the Whittier Narrows across from the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway and the river itself. It was installed in the 1930s, Pelser said.
New pumping stations are being designed and will be built in the next two to three years, he added.
Work began in June to replace a water main on La Cuarta Street. It will be followed by the replacement of pavement on La Cuarta.
Those funds will come from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 2009.
Pelser said the $49 monthly water bill is only the fifth highest in the area, behind Montebello Land and Water, $40.79; Pico Water District, $40.90; Suburban Water Systems serving La Mirada and Whittier, $45.36; and the Suburban Water System serving South Whittier, $47.34.
The higher water fees will bring in an additional $667,870 a year, a 9.8 percent increase.
He noted that the sewer fees, formerly a flat charge, is now also based on the 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons of water used.
The typical family will see a sewer fee hike of $19 a year for a total of $119.08 annually for a single-family home, low-income senior citizens and private development. That figure is capped regardless of higher usage.
However, the cap for multi-residential complexes is $71.45 a year per unit. There is no cap for commercial and industrial use, Pelser said.
He said the increase is needed to maintain the aging sewer lines, most of them installed in the 1950s and ’60s (and some going back to 1917).
He said the added funds will pay for a new sewer maintenance truck and repairs to the worst of the old pipes.
Under Proposition 218, the increase can be nullified by a majority protest. With some 22,800 total customers the protests must number 11,430, but only 32 written objections were received, Pelser said.
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