Council Expected to Clash Over Changes in Sewer Fee System

A cross-town battle is expected today when the Los Angeles City Council considers new sewer rates that would substantially lower fees for most San Fernando Valley residents at the expense of communities elsewhere.

Still, Councilwoman Laura Chick, who has championed the proposed changes, is confident that she will have at least eight of the 15 council votes for the new rates.

“I feel very hopeful and confident that my colleagues will see this as a proposal that makes sense,” said Chick, whose West Valley constituents would see a $1.82 drop in their median monthly bill under the new system.

Even opponents of the new rate system fear that they will be on the losing end of the vote.

“They have at least eight votes,” said Morrie Goldman, chief of staff for Councilman Mike Hernandez, whose East Los Angeles constituents would get an increase of about $1 per month, from $11.42 to $12.37, under the proposed system.

Nonetheless, Goldman said Hernandez plans to oppose the new fees because “our constituents stand to lose in this measure.”

The rates were proposed in response to years of complaints by Valley residents that the current system is inequitable. Two North Hollywood residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the city last month, charging that the system is unfair.

The city cannot measure the exact amount of sewage generated by each home, relying instead on a formula that assumes that about 60% of the water entering a home ends up in the sewers as waste water.

But Valley residents argue that the assumption is wrong. Because of the larger lots in the Valley, residents there say that most of their water is used to irrigate landscaping and does not end up in the sewers.

In response, city sanitation engineers have developed a new rate system that calculates the fee based on the amount of water used in a home during the winter months, when little, if any irrigation occurs.

Chick argues that the new system, called the “winter water use system,” more accurately calculates how much each home should pay to maintain and operate the city’s massive sewer system.

If approved, the new fees would begin next summer.

Chick and others are confident that a council majority will adopt the new system because the fees would decrease for most residents in eight of the 15 council districts under the proposed changes. The fees would increase in five districts and remain about the same in two.

Under the new system, the median monthly bill would increase by up to 98 cents in Councilman Richard Alatorre’s East Los Angeles district and decrease by as much as $2.11 in Councilman Marvin Braude’s district, which stretches from the West Valley to Pacific Palisades, according to the city’s Bureau of Sanitation.

Alatorre said he adamantly opposes the new system.

“Why is it that the people in my district who have the least amount of means are always asked to foot the bill?” he asked.

In the Harbor-based district of Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., the median monthly bill would increase by only 1 cent. Barry Glickman, Svorinich’s chief of staff, said the councilman is undecided pending further study.

Councilman Joel Wachs, whose East Valley constituents would see a drop of $1.47 in their median monthly bill, said he will support the new system because “the current system is blatantly unfair.”

If the new rate system is not adopted, Wachs vowed to join the lawsuit by the two North Hollywood residents.

Wachs also said he will push for an audit of the system to weed out waste and inefficiency so that fees for everyone can be lowered.