Encinitas approves sewer rate hike to fund infrastructure project

ENCINITAS — Local homeowners and ratepayers will soon pay much more for sewer services to help fund the city’s multimillion-dollar wastewater infrastructure improvement project.

The Encinitas City Council voted 5-0 in favor of steep rate hikes over the next five years during its April 24 meeting, marking the end of public consultation on the issue.

Three distinct wastewater districts — Encinitas and Cardiff sanitary divisions and Leucadia Wastewater District — serve the city.

Under the new rates, residents in the Encinitas Sanitary Division, which transports wastewater to the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility in Carlsbad for treatment, will see prices more than double over the next five years, rising from the current average single-family bill of $39.24 per month to $93.68. That’s an increase of up to 19%.

Customers serviced by the Cardiff Sanitary Division, utilizing the San Elijo Water Reclamation Facility, will have to pay up to 15% more over the next four years and up to 10% more in the fifth year, bringing the average bill from $47.13 monthly to $90.67. 

The Coast News first reported on the proposed rate hikes last December.

John Johnson has lived in Encinitas for 25 years. At last week’s meeting, he said things have gotten so expensive that he’s considering moving to Idaho.

“The cost to live here has steadily increased,” Johnson said. “A few months ago, it was water. Now we’re talking about sewers. Everything is going up, making the costs prohibitive. For a family moving into my neighborhood, the property tax alone is ungodly.”

But Councilmember Bruce Ehlers said they have been left with no choice but to raise prices.

“Because expenses have gone up so severely in the last few years, with inflation, with the cost of asphalt going up and the cost of chemical treatment going up, we are almost forced into doing this,” Ehlers said.

The Poway-based engineering firm Ardurra is handling the improvements, which include rehabilitating the Olivenhain trunk sewer and Cardiff and Moonlight Beach pump stations, many of which were built in the 1960s. The project will cost the city just over $4 million for the Cardiff Sanitation District and $9 million for the Encinitas Sanitation District.

To prevent the approval of the rate adjustments, the city clerk needed to receive a total of 5,345 valid written protest votes to block the motion — 3,280 from Cardiff and 2,065 from Encinitas. During the meeting, however, the clerk reported just 30 written protest votes.

Local resident Sarah Tredow thinks the public should have been given more time to oppose the new rates.

“This is not the way to go,” Tredow said. “We want to fund this, but not this fast. It’s too much of our money going into the city’s pockets too fast.”

Another point of contention was the lack of communication between the city and local residents. Only 4,128 homes in Encinitas received notices about the price hikes through the mail, and in Cardiff, that number was just 3,280 — a fact Tredow called “sketchy.”

Councilmember Kellie Hinze acknowledged the rate increases were a shock but explained it was necessary to ensure the area had adequate wastewater services.

“It’s hard to know the burden this is putting on small businesses and the residents of our city,” Hinze said. “But not taking this vote and not increasing the rates at this magnitude over the next 5 years, I think, would be really irresponsible.”