Hollister
– The city will take a big step forward when it breaks ground on
its long-awaited wastewater treatment plant on Dec. 5. However,
many residents aren’t looking forward to the increased sewer rates
that will fund the $120 million project.
In December, a single-family home’s monthly wastewater charge
will jump from $31.30 to $46.33 per month. The fees will continue
increasing; according to the city’s rate schedule, the maximum
payment will be $124.40 per month by fiscal year 2009-10.
Hollister – The city will take a big step forward when it breaks ground on its long-awaited wastewater treatment plant on Dec. 5. However, many residents aren’t looking forward to the increased sewer rates that will fund the $120 million project.
In December, a single-family home’s monthly wastewater charge will jump from $31.30 to $46.33 per month. The fees will continue increasing; according to the city’s rate schedule, the maximum payment will be $124.40 per month by fiscal year 2009-10.
The rate hikes are supposed to pay for the plant’s construction, which city officials hope will end the state-imposed moratorium on sewer hookups that brought new development to a virtual standstill.
Last month, the City Council contracted with C. Overaa & Co. to complete the project’s first phase. The company’s bid of around $57 million was $14 million less than the city’s estimate of $71.3 million.
Councilman Doug Emerson has said the savings should be passed on to ratepayers.
The city estimates that with the help of development impact fees, the fiscal year 2009-10 rates should reach $71.50 per month.
The council also passed a 25 percent rate reduction for low-income seniors.
The rate hikes have been widely criticized by city residents. When asked if she was prepared for the rate increase, resident Ann Carpenter said, “Of course not.”
Carpenter estimated that on an annual basis, she will spend more than twice as much on her wastewater as on her property tax. She also thinks the city has mismanaged its funds.
“Other avenues could have been taken,” Carpenter said.
At a public hearing regarding the rate increases in September, city resident Bill Mifsud Sr. predicted that the council was going to “take the fall” for the rate increases. In the aftermath of the Nov. 7 election, both residents and elected officials are saying that’s exactly what happened.
Hollister voters defeated Measure R, which would have raised the city’s sales tax by 1 percent in order to address its $2.7 million budget deficit, and ousted Mayor Robert Scattini.
Scattini said that although Measure R was necessary, he knew that putting it on the ballot so soon after passing the rate hikes was a bad idea.
“People said at the public hearing that they weren’t going to vote for me because of this,” said Scattini, who lost in the District 2 council race to challenger Eugenia Sanchez, 59 percent to 41 percent. He believes that any councilmember who ran this year would have lost. “I didn’t lose because of me. I lost because people were voting against the city.”
Sanchez could not be reached for comment.
Mifsud said he isn’t sure if the rate hikes caused Scattini’s defeat, but he described the overall reaction to the increase as, “the real definition of a backlash.” Although he doesn’t believe the current councilmembers are the real culprits behind the city’s sewer woes, Mifsud said they are taking most of the blame.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at (831) 637-5566 ext. 330 or
ah*@fr***********.com
.
