GILROY
– A few more dollars will be added to residents’ water bills as
the state increases fees to sewage treatment plants that discharge
waste water.
GILROY – A few more dollars will be added to residents’ water bills as the state increases fees to sewage treatment plants that discharge waste water.
The State Water Resources Control Board enacted a 9 percent increase in water monitoring surcharges added on Waste Discharge Requirement permits. The Gilroy-Morgan Hill Wastewater Treatment Plant holds this type of permit and will pay an additional $1,800 per year to the state for releasing Gilroy’s treated sewage into state ponds.
This fee increase comes after a larger increase last year.
“In October 2001, the fee was $9,300. In November of last year, we paid $19,975, so it more than doubled,” said Jim Gasser, sanitary engineer at the plant.
Mayor Tom Springer adamantly opposes the increase and sent the board a letter asking it to reject the proposal.
“If this fee proposal is approved, it will be a significant and unplanned financial burden for the City of Gilroy,” Springer told the board. “This is totally unreasonable and unjustified!”
Because Gilroy and Morgan Hill entered into a joint-use agreement for the plant, the permit fees are actually divided between the two cities.
The board enacted the fee increase in response to the state’s serious financial crisis, Springer said. Due to a provision in the state budget, the board must pay more of its program operating costs from discharge fees rather than its general fund.
