Sewer Rate Increases On Tap In Contra Costa County

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Come July 1 thousands of homeowners will begin paying more to rinse, shower and flush if new rates being proposed by the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District are approved following a public hearing this month.

If implemented, single-family homeowners will see an increase of 21.7% in what they pay for wastewater and sewer service over the next four years. Apartments, condominiums, duplexes, second living units and mobile homes will see increases totaling 19%. For commercial and other non-residential customers rates will vary depending upon the volume of effluent they produce.

Central San says the increases are necessary to pay for extensive repair and maintenance work on both its regional treatment plant in Martinez and its aging system of underground pipes that collect and carry wastewater and sewage to its treatment facilities.

According to the District, all additional revenue generated from increased rates for the first three years will be spent on major infrastructure projects that include renovation, replacement and expansion of sewage handling facilities, pump stations and filtering facilities for producing recycled water. During the fourth year, 98% of revenue will be used for infrastructure improvements.

This year the District plans to rehabilitate or replace nearly six-and-one-half miles of sewer pipes in Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek and Danville neighborhoods. Overall, by 2022 Central San expects to have completed rehabilitation and replacement of some 28 miles of neighborhood sewer pipes.

Central San’s underground sewage collection system is a patchwork of pipes cobbled together over the past century, with much of it more than 50 years old and in some areas up to 100 years old.

“Most of the pipes are made of vitrified clay, a material similar to terracotta,” Central San spokesman Chris Carpenter told Patch. “There are also pipes made of concrete, iron, steel, and more recent installations consisting of plastic materials such as PVC and HDPE [a type of flexible plastic pipe].”

Some of the older clay sewer pipes have been infiltrated by roots that work their way between pipe sections and cause cracks or blockages, the District says. Pipes with the greatest potential to fail will be replaced first.

Complex & Costly System

From toilet to treatment, Central San’s operation is a complex and expensive process requiring pumping stations, filtering systems that remove around 276 tons of plastics and other debris from wastewater every year, air pollution control systems and incinerators burning about 200 tons of sludge each day, reducing it to 14 tons of sterile ash that is recycled for use to amend soil for gardens and flower beds. On average Central San treats 36 million gallons of wastewater each day and during the past five years has recycled almost a billion gallons, enough to fill 20,000 average-sized backyard swimming pools. Storm water from street runoff is managed by the county.

Central San’s furnaces use renewable landfill gas obtained from the ACME landfill in Martinez with some energy recovered and reused to produce steam, which in turn is used to power turbines that run the blowers providing air to the District’s biological sewage treatment process.

Like many municipal services Central San doesn’t generate profits. The District has consistently reported annual operating deficits that must be defrayed from other sources.

Last year Central San collected $92.5 million in residential and commercial service fees, including nearly $15 million paid by the City of Concord under a contract with the District. These revenues fell $17.2 million short of covering actual operating costs and were supplemented with non-operating income that included property tax contributions from the county along with other sources, such as permit and inspection fees.

According to county officials, of the 1% countywide property tax levied on every parcel of real estate about 19.6% is distributed to special districts such as Central San. During the 2018 fiscal year, Central San’s share was $17.7 million, or about 4.3% of the total property taxes earmarked for special districts.

Lump Sum Payments

Unlike many municipal utilities that bill customers on a monthly or other periodic basis, Central San customers pay sewer service charges in a lump sum collected as part of their annual property taxes. While this charge is itemized in the “Special Taxes & Assessments” section of tax bills as CCCSD Sewer Chg, the description is confusing because the payment is considered a property-related service fee and not a tax under provisions of Proposition 218, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1996.

Designed to alleviate some of the constraints placed on municipal governments’ ability to raise property taxes imposed by the state’s landmark Proposition 13 requiring a two-thirds vote before any local tax could be imposed. Although the debate over the definition of “fee” and a “tax” continues, Proposition 218 exempts certain charges if the revenues are generated from “a property-related fee” and used solely to pay for sewers and other services such as streets, flood control and mosquito control.

How many homeowners actually pay attention to sewer fees and other special charges appearing on annual property tax bills is unknown because thousands of tax payments are made from escrow accounts controlled by mortgage lenders and informational copies sent to each borrower are often overlooked or not examined closely.

Last year Contra Costa County issued 371,195 property tax bills. According to county tax officials, about 119,456 first-half tax payments and approximately 116,307 second- half tax payments were made from escrow accounts.

Concord, Clayton an Exception

Residents of Concord and Clayton do not pay sewer fees to Central San. Instead those charges are remitted directly to the City of Concord which pays a portion to Central San for the treatment of wastewater. Each city has its own collection system transporting sewage to a central collection point where volume is measured before it flows to Central San facilities for treatment and both systems are maintained by the City of Concord.

Justin Ezell, Concord’s Director of Public Works told Patch the city calculates the cost of operating and maintaining the two sewage systems, and the cost of sewage treatment by Central San, and sets its own rates based upon those calculations. For residents of the neighboring cities sewer service charges appear on property tax bills as Concord Res Sewer and Clayton Res Sewer.

Next month the Concord city council will consider its own proposed rate increases that will boost residential sewer charges by 30.4% over a four-year period beginning July 1. Rates for non-residential customers will vary by volume of wastewater collected.

City officials say that 75% of the service charges it collects are passed along to Central San for sewage treatment and other services it provides under contract with the city. What remains is used to pay the costs of operating the collection system in Concord and Clayton, routine maintenance, necessary repairs or replacement of infrastructure and reserves for emergencies.

Last year, Concord’s sewer system, operated by Concord Sanitary Sewer Services, Inc., a city enterprise activity managed by the Department of Public Works, reported revenues of $33.1 million and expenses of $31 million.

Yet, before sewer rates can be raised by either Central San or Concord they are required to notify every property owner within their service areas of the proposed increases and hold public hearings. If a majority of the property owners submit written protests, fees cannot be increased.

Central San has scheduled a public hearing on its rate increases for 1:30 p.m. April 18th at its Martinez headquarters. Concord city council members will conduct a public hearing May 7^th at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers.

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