LAKE COUNTY — A study that proposed water and sewer rate increases in the county”s unincorporated areas was accepted by the Lake County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
Foresight Consulting submitted a study earlier this year that recommended the county impose incremental rate increases during the next five years to fund improvements and growth for the 10 water systems and six sewer systems the county manages. The board approved the study, but plans to analyze the recommend rate hikes in each district before ratepayers vote on the proposed increases.
“We are going to scrutinize each one. We want to make sure the numbers are as flawless as possible. We don”t want to put a rate increase on the ballot in a district without making sure we have done everything we could to keep it as low as possible,” Board Chairman Ed Robey said.
Robey said before any rate hike can be implemented, they must go through a legal process required by Proposition 218, which was voted into law in 1996.
The proposition requires voter approval before fees can be increased. It also requires the county to notify each property owner affected and to hold a formal protest hearing.
Proposed increases vary from one district to another. As an example, the study proposes that sewer rates for ratepayers served by the Southeast Regional System should increase by $11.56 in the 2009-10 fiscal year, by $13.64 in the 2010-11 fiscal year, by $12.52 in the 2011-12 fiscal year and by $6.12 in the 2012-13 fiscal year. If the board follows the study”s recommendations, the rate would increase by approximately 68 percent during the next five years.
Lake County Special Districts Manager Mark Dellinger told the board in a Sept. 3 memo that the county”s water and sewer systems were in need of repair. For the county”s 10 water systems, he said pipes needed to be replaced, storage tanks, pump stations, wells and meters needed to be rehabilitated or replaced and the systems needed improvements to support future growth.
Dellinger said the county”s six sewer systems needed new pipes and manholes, biosolids management, emergency generators, odor control systems, pump rehabilitation or replacement and improvements to accommodate growth.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevele@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
