Politics & Government

Residents to Pay $11 Million Towards New Sewer System

The money will come from sewer rate increases in which residents can expect a hike in monthly fees from $9 to $15.

Residents can expect a 15 percent spike in sewage fees next year with City Council unanimously approving a Consent Judgment regarding its Wednesday night.

“It’s a plan that the City already had and shared with the Attorney General’s office,” City Attorney Richard Adams said of the agreement South Pasadena negotiated with the Regional Water Quality Control Board and Attorney General.

“They merely adopted the program that the City was already planning to implement—with the exception that they accelerated the time schedule,” he continued.

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City staff says sewer repairs and rate increases have been in the works for more than a year. The negotiated plan asks that $4.5 million be spent towards the sewer system within four years and an additional $6.5 million in the following five years.

“That’s a lot of money—but that is the repair needed,” Finance Director Chu Thai told Council.

Find out what's happening in South Pasadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The money will come from sewer rate increases in which residents can expect a hike in monthly fees from $9 to $15 over the next five years. The proposed increase calls for a 15 percent hike in April 2012; 15 percent in January 2013; 15 percent in January 2014; 6 percent in January 2015; and 6 percent in January 2016.

[Editor's Update: These are proposed sewer rate increases. The rates may go up or down and the implementation may be expedited or delayed, says City Staff. A public hearing on the matter is expected to take place in March, 2012.]

The agreement also mandates that the City pay $50,000 in attorney fees, $50,000 towards an asset management program and $175,000 in penalty fees. 

Taking the Blame

Councilmember Richard Schneider asked staff Wednesday why pipes weren’t fixed after the first spill took place. (Some streets endured raw sewage spills more than once.)

“If some were fixed the first time, maybe we wouldn’t have had additional spills and maybe we wouldn’t have gotten the fine,“ said Schneider.

“That’s probably accurate,” replied Deputy Public Works Director Shin Furukawa. 

City Council agreed to bring back a motion to choose an existing City Commission to provide oversight of the sewer repair plan. 

“The commission can be more intensive in following these things than the Council can. I think one will do a good job of following this for us,” said Schneider.

The Consent Judgment will likely go into effect sometime next year after approved by a judge and a 30-day notice and comment period. After this notice, the Water Board has the authority to withdraw the judgment and initiate negotiations again. 

Click here for more details on the Consent Judgement.

Click on the photos above to view a chart of previous sewer rate increases in the City.


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