Single-family rate
would decrease under
proposed sewage bill

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

Use less water each month and pay a smaller sewer bill. Use more water and pay a bigger sewer bill.

That's what city officials are saying under the latest sewage rate bill, which goes before the City Council's Budget and Public Works Committee today.

The vote was expected to be close.

The sewage fees of Oahu homeowners are based on the amount of water they use. The formula uses a base rate for a set amount of water and additional charges for water use above that amount.

Proponents of sewage fee equity, headed by Leeward Councilman John DeSoto, argue that the bills of single-family homes aren't fairly calculated in large part because much of their water use goes toward irrigation that doesn't go into the sewage system.

The latest plan calls for lowering the single-family homeowner monthly base rate, applicable toward the first 2,000 gallons of water consumed, from $24.85 to $17.40.

The base rate for condominium/apartment owners would remain at $17.40.

For both single-family and condominium/apartment owners, the variable rate for water used beyond 2,000 gallons would rise from $1.05 to $1.88 per 1,000 gallons.

Also factored in is an 18 percent discount for water above 2,000 gallons and a cap on the variable amount of 18,000 gallons.

Under the proposal, the bill for a single-family home would go down while the multifamily household fees would go up.

The plan is supposed to be revenue-neutral for the city generating neither a loss nor new income.

Managing Director Ben Lee said the administration will endorse the plan.

"It would provide some equity for multifamily and single-family as well as encourage water conservation," Lee said. "As you use more water, the fees will go up.

The average single-family household on the island uses between 9,000 and 11,000 gallons of water a month, according to Cheryl Okuma-Sepe, deputy director for the Department of Environmental Services.

The average condominium/apartment household uses between 7,000 and 9,000, she said.

Lee said the latest version tries to minimize the effect on condominium/apartment homeowners, who criticized the original sewer equity bill for hiking their prices too much during bad economic times.

About 28.4 percent of condominium/apartment homeowners use under 5,000 gallons of water, while 53.7 percent use between 5,000 and 10,000 gallons.

Lee said that means the hike for the bulk of condominium/apartment owners would be $5.44 or less each month.

At least two Council members representing areas with heavy concentrations of condominium/apartment dwellings said they have reservations about the proposal.

Makiki-Manoa Councilman Andy Mirikitani said the bill is "discriminatory for condominium and other multifamily homeowners on Oahu."

Waikiki-Palolo Councilman Duke Bainum said the newest version is an improvement over the original bill, which called for jacking up the base rate thus penalizing those who use less water.

Bainum said the city should overhaul its current sewage rate system in favor of one based on number of people per household.