County proposes phased sewer fee increases that would raise Temple City bills

Los Angeles County Public Works staff outlined a proposed, phased increase to the county'collection fee for sewer maintenance that would affect Temple City residents if adopted.

Andrew Goomba, division chief for sewer maintenance at Los Angeles County Public Works, told the Temple City Council on May 6 that the consolidated sewer maintenance district has had essentially flat collection rates since 2014 while costs for labor, materials and construction have risen and reserves have fallen. "We are proposing to increase the current $50-per-year per sewage unit fee by $14 per year for three consecutive years and then by the rate of inflation for another two years," Goomba said. "A single-family home that's currently paying about $50 per year would be paying about $96 per year after five years."

The county described the scale of service: the district serves more than 2 million customers across 38 member cities and more than 500,000 parcels, runs four treatment plants, about 87 pump stations and more than 4,600 miles of sewer lines. In Temple City specifically, staff said the district maintains roughly 10,000 parcels (about 13,200 sewage units), about 48,000 feet of sewer pipe and about 1,800 manholes. County staff said 88% of Temple City's sewer infrastructure is free from significant structural defects; about 12% was identified with significant defects, with the most critical segments already repaired and others placed on an enhanced maintenance priority list. City-specific remaining needs were described as approximately $1 million.

Goomba presented district financials showing expenditures exceeding revenues in recent years and warned that, without new revenue, the fund balance could go negative in the next fiscal year. He said the district hired an independent consultant to recommend a sustainable funding level. "The cost of labor alone has gone up more than 60% in the last 10 years," Goomba said, citing higher operating costs as a principal driver of the proposal.

On scope and responsibility, Goomba reiterated that the city remains the owner of its civil sewer infrastructure while the consolidated district operates and maintains the system under agreements with member cities. He said the district handles preventative maintenance, condition assessments and point repairs, while major capacity projects or wholesale replacement decisions would be the city's responsibility.

Goomba said outreach has begun: Proposition 218 notices were mailed to affected property owners and the district plans multilingual outreach, community meetings and webinars. The Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing for June 24 to determine whether a majority protest exists; if no majority protest is found, the board could approve the increases at that hearing, the county said, and the new charges would take effect in July and appear on the 2025-26 property tax roll.

Council members asked several follow-up questions about defect ratings, prioritization and the timeline for repairs. Goomba said the district will prioritize the worst segments first, noted that roughly 16% of the worst segments have already been addressed in the current cycle, and said the district expects to commit about $5 million per year systemwide to address infrastructure identified in condition assessments. Asked why another rate increase had not been done sooner, he said planned increases were put off during the pandemic and the district must now act to avoid eroding reserves.

The briefing provided Temple City with the county's proposed structure, its rationale and the outreach and protest schedule. The matter is subject to the county's Proposition 218 notice and protest process and will next be considered at the Board of Supervisors public hearing on June 24.