Sewer fee restructuring
may cause Council clash

Urban and rural Council members may
square off over a rate proposal

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

A plan by the mayor to raise sewer fees for condominium owners and reduce them for single-family homeowners is expected to pit urban Council members against their rural colleagues.

Mayor Jeremy Harris' plan would cost condo owners an average $5 more a month but save homeowners an average $3 a month.

But Council Public Works chairman Steve Holmes says the fight will have to wait until he receives a long-awaited financial plan from the administration that addresses Oahu's long-term wastewater facility needs.

The administration introduced the rate redistribution proposal in September, stating it would make sewer rates more equitable.

"It's a reasonable way to address the irrigation issue," said Cheryl Okuma-Sepe, deputy director of the Wastewater Management Department.

The administration says that 52 percent of families would get lower rates and that overall, the switch would be revenue neutral for the city.

Farmers and others who use water for irrigation have complained for years that they pay a disproportionate share of sewer fees. That's because sewer fees are based on the amount of city water used, not on the amount they put into the sewer system.

Council chairman John DeSoto, who represents the Leeward Coast, says exorbitant sewer rates are the No. 1 concern for his constituents.

"What's fair is fair," he said.

But Councilmembers Jon Yoshimura and Duke Bainum, who represent downtown and Waikiki respectively, argue that other factors need to be considered.

Deputy director of the Wastewater Management Department

Bainum said city garbage disposal service is paid for with property taxes from all classes, even though most condominiums don't use city service but use private haulers.

Yoshimura said because single-family homes are spread out, they also create a larger burden on city roads, sewer and water pipes and other infrastructure.

Specifically, the bill would establish a single base rate and an 18,000-gallon-a-month limit on metered water. The average multi-

family bill would go from $22 a month to $27 under the plan. Single-family bills would go from an average $33 to $30.

The Council has been receiving letters for and against the plan.

Bob Farrell of Makakilo calls the measure a fairness bill.

"Most of the year this area does not receive sufficient rainfall to keep lawns and plantings green," he wrote.

Emory Bush of the Hawaiiana Management Co., however, wrote that a building he manages pays a $36,000 sewer fee but also $35,000 to $40,000 for private refuse hauling.

"If you want fairness and equity, you should require your refuse trucks to pick up all apartment refuse in Honolulu free of charge the same way you pick up refuse for individual homes," he said.

Despite the interest, Holmes says the bill won't get a formal hearing in his committee until he receives a financial plan from the administration explaining how it intends to fund expected big-ticket renovations for wastewater facilities in coming years.

Holmes said he's been waiting more than 2 1/2 years for such a plan.

Administration officials had no comment on when the plan would be submitted.