The Budget and Finance Committee of the City Council is comprised of Council members Bernard C. Parks, Tony Cardenas, Mitchell Englander, Bill Rosendahl, and Paul Koretz. They approved a ten years, 77.4% increase in our Sewer Service Charge at its Monday afternoon meeting at City Hall. It consists of a 4.5% increase in the first three years and 6.5% for the remaining seven years, resulting is a compounded annual increase of 5.9% over the next ten years.
Over the next five years, our rates will increase by 29.4%, or over $105 per year for the “average” family. But considering that our rates have not increased in three years, this increase is not unreasonable. If this rate increase is looked at over an eight years period, the compounded annual rate of increase is 3.3%.
This increase is lower than the five year 39.4% increase preferred by the Office of the City Administrative Officer (the “CAO”) who contemplated a more aggressive pipe replacement program. And it is considerably lower than the 54% increase that was initially discussed by the Bureau of Sanitation a year ago.
The most recent reports by the Bureau of Sanitation and the CAO did not contain adequate financial projections despite previous requests. There were no projected income statements, balance sheets, or funds flow statements that you would normally expect from a well-managed operation that has assets of $4.5 billion, debt of $2.7 billion, revenues in excess of $500 million, and an operating profit of $271 million.
Subject of approval now goes to the Mayor and then the City Council for final approval.
Residential and commercial property owner ratepayers could greatly reduce their Sewer Service Charge by installing a second private water sub meter. Leonard Horowitz California Utility Services 800-400-1727 has been installing these private meters for the past eight years. You could save up to 80% from your SSC and pay back your investment within one year. This is a LAMC Sec 64.41 Bureau of Sanitation Sewer Service Charge Relief Program.