Belmont officials briefed on $98 million Silicon Valley Clean Water capital program and looming need to raise $250 sewer treatment fee

Silicon Valley Clean Water officials on Tuesday told the Belmont City Council that an upgraded wastewater-treatment program and new Regional Water Quality Control Board effluent limits will require a substantial near‑term infusion of cash and likely changes to Belmont’s long‑standing flat sewer treatment charge.

The presentation, by Matt Zuka (Authority Manager) and Matt Anderson (Chief Financial Officer) of Silicon Valley Clean Water (SVCW), and Jaime Trejo of PFM (financial advisor), outlined roughly $98 million of active and planned capital work over the next three years and a separate longer‑range program to meet nutrient‑removal rules for the San Francisco Bay. Belmont’s share of the immediate $32.4 million funding need is about $3.1 million, apportioned to the city as a roughly 9.45% cost share.

Why it matters: Belmont’s sewer treatment facility charge is a flat fee that the council adopted in 2009 and began collecting in fiscal year 2011–12. The fee has been unchanged at about $250 per year for a single‑family home since adoption, and staff and financial advisers told the council that the current structure…