By Elizabeth Cloutman

Los Altos Hills

The Los Altos Hills City Council has scheduled a public hearing Thursday to get feedback on the proposed resolution to increase the annual sewer service charge from $476.04 to $570.34 for 2001-02.

Public Works Manager Jim Rasp said the increase is necessary due to a net loss of $87,634 from the sanitary sewer reserve funds because of a large emergency repair project off Liddicoat Circle during the past year. Rasp said adequate reserves are needed to fund the town’s sewer rehabilitation construction under the sanitary sewer master plan, slated to be completed by 2003.

“Although the high operating costs of the recent fiscal year may be considered an anomaly, operating costs can be expected to escalate/fluctuate as the sewer infrastructure ages and more ‘emergency’ repairs are required,” Rasp wrote in a staff report to the city council.

The sewer service charge is assessed to all properties that are connected to the Los Altos Hills sewer system and is included in the annual property tax bill. The charge has remained constant for the past six years, even though maintenance and other costs have increased, Rasp said.

Sewer replacement reserve funding has steadily declined with increased operating costs, he said.