Water, Sewer Rates to Increase 12%, 9% in July

Due to increasing water and sewer costs the city, the city council has approved water and sewer increases that amount to approximately $4 and $5 a month per household, respectively.

Increases over the last few years, covering repairs, replacements, and maintenance of water systems that will eventually cost $80 million over 20 years. Redwood City’s water supplier, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), has increased the cost of obtaining water from the Hetch Hetchy water system by 10 percent. Annual rate raises can be as high as 38 percent, such as last year.

The city dips into its rate stabilization fund to increase rates steadily rather than mirror the rate increases of the Commission.

Similarly with sewage, the city needs $100 million over the next 10 years to make necessary fixes and maintenance touch-ups to keep the system as upgraded as possible.

“Honestly, the city is behind in some infrastructure repairs we need to do, so we need to make sure we don’t fall behind,” said Councilmember Jeff Ira.

“We don’t want sewage in the wrong place,” Ira said. “This system is quite old.”

Last year, Redwood City’s water rate was 6 percent above the average and 2 percent below the mean of 19 other neighboring jurisdictions. Smith added that the city’s rates are similar to or below the average for Peninsula communities.

“[Hetch Hetchy] is the only water store in town,” said resident Allen Bigniss. “Their rate may be high, but go to Costco.”

The average Redwood City water cost is .007 per gallon

However, another resident opposed the increases, saying that no household should have to pay rates that are more than a commercial business’ rates once the usage hits 51 units.

Art Jensen from the regional agency, the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, explained that water increases ironically occur when water usage goes down. Water utilities need to bring in enough revenue to cover costs so they must raise the per-unit cost.

Reducing pipe size is also not an option, as suggested by some residents, because they’re fitted to fight fires, Jensen added.

He also praised the city for implementing a recycled water plan to balance its budget.

“It’s unusual, but responsible,” he said.

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