
Residents balk at proposed sewer rate increase
The city has raised its sewer rates only twice since 2006, allowing Bakersfield residents to enjoy some of the lowest rates among the state's large cities. Now, city officials say they need to start looking into building a new wastewater treatment plant.
The rate increase approved by the City Council at its March 26 meeting is planned to increase raise rates more than 300%. For a single-family home that means what was a yearly rate of $239, or $19.92 a month, will jump to $950 per year, or $79.17 a month.
A state law known as Proposition 218 requires jurisdictions to send notices to impacted ratepayers and hold a public meeting within 45 days of those notices being issued. On April 11, such notices were sent to Bakersfield residents.
"How can they think we can afford this big increase?" a user self-identified as R.L. asked on the social media platform Nextdoor. "We need to go to the meeting and tell them, 'No, we're not paying this.'"
The official meeting to hear protests against the increase isn't scheduled until May 28, but social media posts have called on residents to attend the council's next meeting on Wednesday to protest the increase.
The change even drew the attention of state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Sanger, who issued a letter Wednesday "urging greater transparency and oversight" in the city's proposal.
"I appreciate the work local leaders are doing to invest in our infrastructure — that's not in question,' Hurtado said in a statement. 'But when ratepayers are potentially on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in unexplained spikes, it's our responsibility to ask the tough questions."
Under Prop. 218, if the city receives objections from more than 50% of impacted residents, it can't move forward with the increase.
Objections can be made in person at the May 28 meeting or submitted in writing to the city clerk's office before the end of that meeting.
Some residents have posted letter templates in English and Spanish protesting the increase for residents to use.
Driving the cost is pent-up demand for maintenance and repairs with the city's aging sewer infrastructure, including what the city says is the need for a new wastewater treatment plant.
The city currently has two treatment plants, the smaller of which — Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 2 on East Planz Road — was built in 1958 and last upgraded in 2000.
The plant, which operates at all hours to process 25 million gallons of wastewater daily, has significant corrosion issues and runs technologies that were cutting edge in the 1970s, according to Wastewater Manager Evette Roldan.
Needed repairs at the facility added up quickly, Roldan said, and staff determined that a new facility would be a better use of money, not just for current residents but for the rapid growth the city is experiencing, particularly in southwest Bakersfield.
"We got to the point of when you started adding up all the potential improvements that we came to the conclusion that it's most likely going to be some type of a significant upgrade or a full rebuild," Kristina Budak, director of water resources, said at the March 26 meeting.
"And that's where we identified the cost of being approximately $450 million for construction," she said.
Staff presented council members with four options for funding the projects, two of which were designed to collect all needed money while two others would have raised only enough money to operate the old plant while raising half the funds for a new facility, both within five years.
Budak said staff looked at expanding the timeline beyond five years to seven, but Prop. 218 limits approval of increases to five years into the future.
If the city were to raise only half the needed funds, it would likely issue bonds to raise the remaining money, adding interest payments long into the future to the total cost of the project.
According to a graphic presented by city staff, Bakersfield's current rate of $239 per year was lower than that of Fresno ($379), Anaheim ($558) and Sacramento ($627).
The proposed annual rate of $950 would put the city between that of San Diego ($939) and Los Angeles ($1,375).
It wasn't an easy decision for council members to make. Members spent roughly an hour debating the topic, and several expressed frustration with the shortage of options.
"When you're the cheapest and you only patch what's broke," Ward 4 Councilman Bob Smith said, "then sooner or later you have to pay. And the longer we wait, the higher this number goes in my mind."
Ward 1 Councilman Eric Arias said he recognized the need for upgrades to the treatment plant but noted many of his constituents were living on fixed incomes.
"I think that we have to do everything that we can at the local level to help folks literally survive and fight for the next day. And I think that timing is really what it comes down to for me," Arias said. "I think it's very clear we have to upgrade the sewer plant, No. 2. I just don't know that now is the right time."
The decision to send out the Prop. 218 notices came down to a narrow vote. Council members voted 3-2 to send out the notices, with members Zack Bashirtash, Larry Koman and Greg Smith voting in favor and Eric Arias and Andrae Gonzales voting against. Members Manpreet Kaur and Ken Weir were absent.
The city has taken note of the public's frustration with the issue, posting information on social media about the proposal with instructions on how to give public comment.
"We've seen your posts and messages about the proposed sewer rate adjustment — and we understand your frustration," the city said on social media.

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