Sanitary District to Consider Raising Rates

The Ross Valley Sanitary District board will consider a five-year revenue plan tonight that argues a rate increase is necessary to meet continuing infrastructure needs.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at the new Twin Cities Police Department building on Doherty Drive to consider starting the process for a possible rate increase. If the board decides to move forward with the rate increase or rate changes, then it will start a Prop. 218 process to notify ratepayers and initiate a 45-day protest period.

Previously, , but was waiting for a consultant report on the five-year revenue plan and on a move from flat rates to flow-based rates to make a decision. That report and staff recommendations, now available on the district's website, argue that two $50 million revenue bonds are necessary to replace 100 miles of aging pipe.

Staff has been bringing urgent repairs to the district board each month for the past few months.

Additionally, a proposal to move to a flow-based rate would base 40% of a resident's fee on water usage in 2012-13 and 60% of the fee on usage in 2013-14.

The five year revenue plan calls lays out rate increase under the flow-based plan, according to The Marin Independent Journal this work out to:

In the first year of the plan, the average annual bill for residential customers in Fairfax, San Anselmo, Ross, Kentfield and Greenbrae would increase about 31 percent, from $638 to $835, and by the fifth year of the plan the average annual bill for these customers would have grown about 93 percent, to $1,232.

Last year, . A majority must file protests in order to stop the rate increase.