By Megan Ma

In the wake of public outcry over the fifth sewer rate increase in as many years, new questions have arisen about how the city of Los Altos handles its sewer funds.

The increase goes into effect in 2007 and amounts to $2.75 per month for residents and $4.70 per month for those living in the county unincorporated area between Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. The rate hike was adopted when the city’s sewer master plan was introduced last year.

The 70 percent higher charge for unincorporated residents has infuriated some. At the Nov. 14 city council meeting, the city clerk received 743 letters protesting the rate increase from residents in the unincorporated area of Los Altos.

The letters criticized the city for improper maintenance of the system and lack of communication about sewer rate increases. Some letters came from residents outside city boundaries who are upset they are paying 70 percent more for their sewer service than city residents.

Public Works Director Jim Porter said residents who wrote the letters were probably misinformed. He said the city mailed notices to all residents, in accordance with state-mandated laws.

Porter said unincorporated residents are charged more because they don’t pay taxes to the city’s sewer fund. The city assumes “all risk and liability” for running sewers, he said, and there are fewer properties to spread sewer costs among in unincorporated areas.

While no current councilmember has explicitly admitted fault with the handling of sewer funds, a conciliatory tone tempered discussions at the meeting.

“We are trying to carefully and methodically deal with this and make sure (the sewer rates) are equitable,” Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard said.

Packard said the council should analyze the history of Los Altos sewer rates, in the hope that a full review and revision of the sewer rate structures

for all residents would serve to clarify any confusion.

The review, which will seek to calculate the actual costs of servicing county residents, will begin in the next few weeks, he said. Flow meters could be installed to determine the exact cost of transporting unincorporated area residents’ sewage to a treatment plant.

City staff may have grossly underestimated the amount of money needed for sewer maintenance, according to a recently completed independent study. The study concluded that the city paid $272,000 more for sewer maintenance in the last year than was allotted in its budget.

A cost assessment study was last conducted in 1988, according to Porter.

Porter said slightly higher sewer rates - which will continue to rise over the next 14 years - are fair.

“It’s a legitimate charge,” Porter said. “The city is not recovering its costs through sewer fees.”

Packard said the fee structure should be analyzed but that higher rates for unincorporated residents seemed fair. He said that “sorely needed” money should not be funneled away from city residents to maintain sewers for non-residents.

The California State Supreme Court recently tossed out Dr. Tom Burns’ claims against the city that it had improperly maintained its sewers.

Burns had sought to recover damages after

sewage flowed into his Frontero Avenue home in 2003. The decision ended his long legal battle with the city.