San Bruno hikes utility rates: Water, sewer, trash bills all going up to chagrin of some

Councilmembers approved by a 3-2 vote, with councilmen Marty and Rico Medina dissenting, to hike the water rates which advocates for the increases claim are necessary to fix an aging system.

“I think it’s a good move,” said Mayor Jim Ruane. “If we were being more aggressive we could get it done quicker, but as long as we can accomplish our goals with a 5 percent increase, I’m good with it.”

Officials had considered increases as high as 10 percent, but a subcommittee of councilmembers designed to examine the proposed rates suggested decreasing the amounts so as to lessen the community’s financial burden.

Ruane said some of the city’s underground infrastructure is 100 years old and revenue generated by rate payers will be paid back into improving the aging system. It is estimated $80 million worth of repairs to the city’s pump stations, wells, water storage tanks, plus a variety of sewer and wastewater main improvements are necessary.

Under the new rates, an average bimonthly water bill will increase from $140 to $170 by the 2021-2022 fiscal year, and sewer rates will jump from $162 to $197 over that same period. Under the garbage rate hikes, costs would increase by about $1 per month for the smaller cans and up to $3 per month for the largest commercial bin.

Marty Medina, who sat on the rate subcommittee, said he would have preferred his colleagues examine other ways to raise the money necessary to fix the water and sewer infrastructure.

“I understand we need to invest in our system, but we can’t just raise rates,” he said. “We need to look at efficiency and other revenue streams.”

Doing a better job to recoup lost charges from delinquent customers or using some of the restitution money paid by Pacific Gas and Electric for the gas pipeline explosion were among the alternative cost offsetting strategies suggested by Marty Medina.

He said creativity is required from officials, because continuing to solely increase costs to residents will ultimately prove untenable.

“We need to try to do something differently, or it is just going to be way too expensive,” he said.

A similar sentiment was frequently expressed by the more than 100 residents who wrote letters discouraging officials from approving the rate hikes.

“We are tired of seeing these increases year after year. This must stop. The fees for these services are already outrageous compared to neighboring cities in the Bay Area,” Ai Mun Chew and Yauheni Vial wrote in a letter to councilmembers.

San Bruno residents face one of the more expensive water bills in northern San Mateo County, as only Belmont, Montara and Hillsborough pay more, according to a city report based on rates from last October. Neighboring South San Francisco customers pay $55 bills on a similar schedule and those in Millbrae pay $47. Sewer rates are closer to the middle of the pack for surrounding communities, according to the report also indicating San Bruno residents pay a comparable combined amount to those in many other local cities.

Much of outrage from residents focused on the increased water and sewer charges, which Ruane attributed to a few dissatisfied community members.

“People complained, but if you look at the overall response, it was a vocal and very, very small amount of people,” he said.

To Marty Medina’s calls for seeking efficiencies in operating the system before increasing rates, Ruane said he believed city staff is already engaged in those efforts. He said he would not support using restitution funds for paying ongoing costs though.

“Once you get that started, it never goes away,” he said. “So that is not what those funds are to be used for.”

Marty Medina said he understood Ruane’s argument, but wished there was more support among his fellow councilmembers for examining alternative methods for addressing the issue.

“It was frustrating,” he said. “But I wasn’t too hopeful.”

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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