Thumbnail photo: Sewer rates for customers within Crescent City limits go toward the conveyance and treatment of their wastewater. | Photo by James Brooks Linda Sutter vowed to fight planned water and sewer rate increases, telling Crescent City councilors that she’ll be “pounding pavement and getting the signatures” to keep them from going through. But City Manager Eric Wier corrected a statement Sutter made on Monday about the community’s low-income housing developments and what she said was the expectation that “everybody else who works or gets a decent wage (will) pay for all those people.” Using Danco Communities’ Harbor Point Apartments as an example, Wier said the developers of the 26-unit senior apartment building paid more than $100,000 in sewer rate connections. The property owners will pay monthly sewer charges based on their water consumption, the city manager said. “The individual might not be paying that directly because they don’t have an account individually, but that apartment complex does through a master meter,” he said. “The owner of the apartment complex pays that large bill for all those sewer connections. They absolutely pay their equitable fair share for that development.” Four members of the Crescent City Council approved ordinances setting new water and sewer rate structures and resolutions that start the Proposition 218 process that gives accountholders the ability to protest them. Councilor Ray Altman voted against both the water rate and sewer rate ordinances and resolutions, which set public hearings for June 1. Any water or sewer customer of record can submit a written protest letter either through the mail or at City Hall by 4 p.m. June 1, City Attorney Martha Rice said. They can also turn them in on the day of the hearing. The rate increase is not allowed to proceed if the city receives valid protests from 50% plus 1 of the total number of eligible properties with water and sewer accounts, she said. Proposition 218 public hearing notices will go out this week or early next week, Rice said. Protesters must identify the parcel they have a water or sewer account for either by including the street address or APN number, she said. “We need to know you are an eligible person to submit the protest and then we can check that against our records,” the city attorney said. “No email or electronic submissions of protest will be accepted. Each parcel gets one protest vote. You may have multiple people eligible to submit a protest vote, however a maximum of one (vote) will be counted.” Monthly water bills for the “typical residential customer” who uses 500 cubic feet will increase from $22.49 per month to $46.18 in 2027 if the new rate structure goes through. Rates will increase to $48.41 in 2028, $50.86 in 2029, $53.55 in 2030 and $56.50 in 2031, according to a recommendation from Rural Community Assistance Corporation, or RCAC. Pelican Bay State Prison, which is also on the city’s water system, would see their rates change from $3.11 per 1,000 gallons used to $6.48 per 1,000 gallons in 2027. Their rates would max out at $8.39 per 1,000 gallons used in 2031, according to the RCAC’s recommendations. On Monday, RCAC Assistant Field Manager Samantha Ryan said that Crescent City’s current rate structure isn’t enough to cover the system’s expenses. Even though the city is expected to receive grants for capital improvement projects, it will be short $8.5 million in five years if rates don’t increase, she said. Water rates haven’t been adjusted since July 2017, according to Wier. Meanwhile, a similar rate study conducted by Willdan Financial Services recommended sewer rate increases by about $25 starting next year for the typical residential customer living within the city limits. If the rate increases are finalized, their bill would go from $72.21 to $98.06, according to Willdan Financial Services Vice President Chris Fisher. Sewer rates would then increase for single-family residential customers by $12.26 in 2028; $7.17 in 2029; $6.46 in 2030; and $6.20 in 2031, according to Fisher. Monthly rates for residential customers within the city limits would be $130.15 in 2031, according to Fischer. Customers outside city limits — who are billed for treating the wastewater only — will see their rates increase by $16.46, going from $63.14 to $79.60 in 2027. Their bills would then increase by $9.95 in 2028; $5.82 in 2029; $5.25 in 2030; and $5.03 in 2031. Monthly rates for residential customers outside the city would be $105.65 in 2031. The Crescent City Council last adjusted sewer rates in 2015. That rate increase did not go through, due to a voter-approved referendum, Wier said. That referendum process is no longer valid, he told councilors. Sewer customers living in the county service area only pay the city for treating the wastewater, Wier said. Their conveyance fees get added to their property taxes, he said. According to the city manager, if rates aren’t adjusted, Crescent City’s sewer fund will run out of money in about two years. But, while the city received a state fine of $228,000 and must make $50 million in upgrades to meet new pollutant discharge regulations, the proposed rate increase would help the city pay its operation and maintenance expenses, Wier said. “The sewer fund is in worse shape than the water fund,” he said. “The only thing that has kept us afloat over the last couple of years has been those newer hookups and developer connection fees and the costs that have been associated with those projects.” According to Wier, the new housing development that has occurred and new hookups over the last 16 to 17 years have resulted in about $4 million coming into the sewer fund. Water rates also go toward operation and maintenance costs as well, Wier said. However, the city may pursue a loan to pay for major upgrades to its two water tanks, one of which was installed in 1981 and is starting to “show its age.” Crescent City is also looking at either replacing a 14-inch cast iron water main that runs from its collection point on the Smith River to a chlorination facility or installing a redundant water main, Wier said. Drilling another water well is another possibility, he said, “so we wouldn’t have reliance on that one water source.” Those capital improvements would not be paid for by the proposed water rate increases, Wier told the City Council. County resident Mark Bower agreed with officials that water rates needed to increase, but he asked why people's bills needed to double right away. Pointing to increased power bills, along with the proposal to raise sewer rates, Bower reminded councilors that many residents are on a fixed income. “You just added 150 bucks onto their bill. Every month,” he said. “This should be done and it needs to be done — it needs to be raised — but you need to do it gradually, slowly so they can work this into a budget. This is not real, to double their rates.” At the City Council’s March 2 meeting, Jody Mangum raised concerns about the number of new housing units being constructed. On Monday, she said the Proposition 218 protest process shouldn’t start until the public knows how many parcels get a vote. Mentioning the large capital improvement projects Wier said the water system needed, Mangum said the ratepayers appear to be paying for the development. Mangum also mentioned a grass-roots effort that will keep track of the Proposition 218 protest votes. “If you just turn them into the city, they may or may not be counted,” she said. “I was a part of the group that helped count the votes the last time and not all the votes were counted.” Cate Classen, a 10-year resident of Crescent City, also raised concerns that the rate increase was due to the additional housing units being developed. She also noted that, with the sewer plant in the tsunami zone, maybe it needed to be moved. “We understand that costs go up, but we do have people on a fixed income,” she said. “If we have people who are low income, and they’re not paying anything, then we really need to think about how this is all playing out.” If the number of valid protests submitted to Crescent City is fewer than 50% plus 1 of the total number of parcels on the water and sewer systems, and the Proposition 218 protest fails, the new rates will take effect July 1, according to Rice.