Sausalito poised to increase sewer rates
A consultant for the city determined that approximately $5 million is needed for critical system repairs in the next five to 10 years.
Sausalito is planning to increase sewer rates by about 15% over the next three years.
The City Council voted unanimously to direct staff to begin notifying property owners of a three-year plan to increase the city’s sewer collection rates by roughly 5% per year. The increase would begin in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The change is aimed at replacing and maintaining the city’s aging sewer system, including its 20 miles of sewage pipes.
“This is money spent now to save us a lot of money later, given a lot of the deferred maintenance, the way our infrastructure looks today, and the increase in problems that we anticipate, so I think it’s a good move for us,” Councilmember Janelle Kellman said.
The city owns and operates parts of the sewer system that transports wastewater to the Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District. Portions of the system are more than 80 years old and need maintenance and upgrades.
According to Vivian Housen, a consultant for the city, approximately $5 million is needed for critical repairs to be completed in the next five to 10 years, including openings, infiltrations and separations in pipes.
These are “issues that should be repaired because they could eventually lead to some sort of failure in the system,” Housen said.
The city’s collection rates, which are based on a 2019 financial plan, expire in June. While the current rates have been enough to cover maintenance, evaluation and repairs of the sewer system, they do not provide enough funds to complete the needed repairs over the next three to five years.
In the beginning of the year, Sausalito hired a consulting firm to perform a sanitary sewer fee study. The study concluded that a 5% increase in the annual revenue from sewer rates will be needed each fiscal year, beginning in the 2024-25 fiscal year. The rate increase would provide $700,000 annually for sewer improvements.
The charge for a single-family household in the 2024-25 fiscal year would be $637.57. The rate would increase each year by 5% for three years.
The volumetric charge for all customers of all classes would be $2.77 per 100 cubic feet, or 748 gallons, of water use for the the 2024-25 fiscal year, rising to $3.06 in 2027. This does not include the bill property owners in Sausalito pay separately for wastewater treatment.
“Nobody likes it when we have to increase rates,” Councilmember Melissa Blaustein said. “No one wants to charge our residents more. No one is in favor of upping all of our fees, and in a perfect world, this wouldn’t be something that we have to do every five years, but as was demonstrated by our very competent and well-thought-out team of consultants and the work from our Department of Public Works, we don’t have much choice but to take action now.”
A public hearing on the rate increases is scheduled for June 4. If adopted, the rate changes will take effect July 1.