Sewer fees for Los Angeles residents may double over the next four years, starting in October.
On Tuesday, L.A. City Council voted 11 to 4 to begin the process of approving the proposed increases; however, the Los Angeles Daily News reported that the changes will not be officially made until there is a final vote by the council.
The first part of the increases could go into effect in October and by 2028, the sewer fees for a single-family home could go from $75 to $155. Apartment buildings with four units or less could go from $145 to $299 over the course of four years. Apartment buildings with five units or more could see fees go from $858 to $1770.
The money from the fee hikes would be used to cover maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to aging sewer pipes.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Council member Katy Yaroslavsky, the chair of the Energy and Environment Committee, noted during the meeting that the increases were paused in 2020 which was due to COVID-19.
“Nobody likes fee increases. This sewer fee was something that we did pretty much every year to keep it small and we are now in the unfortunate position that for five years, we haven't assessed it,” she said.
Council member Kevin de León said this will hit working families pretty hard.
“We're talking about six increases over the course of three years. We're talking about three increases on an annual basis, a total of nine increases,” he said.
De León was one of the four council members who voted ‘no.’ The other council members were Imelda Padilla, Monica Rodriguez, and Heather.
Daniel Yukelson, the executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, told KNX News’ Jon Baird that this will hurt landlords, especially mom-and-pop landlords.
“We’ve had major inflationary pressures. There's been supply chain issues, costs of all types of goods and services have gone up more than double digits and this is just going to add fuel to the fire and force a lot of people out of this rental housing,” he said. “They can't keep up with their costs.”
The sanitation department has to notify all the property owners and customers about the increases and if over 50% of them submit valid protests, the rate hikes cannot be enacted.
You can view the proposal from the L.A. Sanitation and Environment here.
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