Residents to encounter another new rate increase
Bills for water, waste collection to jump at least 4 percent
By Jana Seshadri
To add to the mounting cost of living in Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale residents will face yet another increase in their monthly utility bills starting July 1.
The average residential customer in Sunnyvale will face a monthly increase of 67 cents for wastewater (a 4 percent increase), 72 cents for water (a 4.5 percent increase) and 68 cents for solid waste collection services (a 4.5 percent increase), which translates into an increase of slightly more than $2 and an average monthly residential utility bill of approximately $59.97.
Even with rate changes, Sunnyvale residents' utility rates will remain 31 percent lower than the average of surrounding communities, said Timothy Kirby, revenue systems supervisor for Sunnyvale.
According to Kirby, one of the main reasons for the upcoming hike in the utility rates is the deterioration of the San Francisco Water District's Hetch Hetchy system. This system, which was built more than a century ago, delivers an average of 206 million gallons of water per day to
2.4 million people in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties. The system crosses three major earthquake fault lines between San Francisco and its sources of water, which are 160 miles away in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Sunnyvale is one of 29 cities neighboring San Francisco that make use of Hetch Hetchy. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, responsible for the Hetch Hetchy system, has estimated a total cost of $2.9 billion needed for capital improvements directly related to the provision of water to cities outside of San Francisco, including Sunnyvale, Kirby said.
In addition, Sunnyvale's wholesale water suppliers - the San Francisco Water Department and the Santa Clara Valley Water District - have announced 5 percent and 2.4 percent increases, respectively, in the prices they will charge for water in fiscal year 200203. Due to price increases from all its water sources, Sunnyvale's Water Supply and Distribution Fund has been significantly affected because approximately 70 percent of the water fund's expenditure budget is the cost of purchased water.
Another reason for the utility rate increase is Sunnyvale's Wastewater Management Fund. Because of the normal deterioration of aging facilities, the fund's infrastructure costs will increase, Kirby said. Also, the downturn in the economy has resulted in a decrease of $1 million in connection fee revenues this year.
In solid-waste collection and disposal, the tonnage of the waste drives both the revenue and expenses. Because of a reduction in weight and revenues last year, there is also less money in the Solid Waste Management Fund. A decrease in collected tonnage is about three times greater than the corresponding decrease in expenditures, due to the fixed costs associated with collecting the waste, delivering it to the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer station and maintaining the Sunnyvale landfill. Solid waste is also directly linked to the economy; less economic activity means less garbage is produced.
Kirby said the utility rate changes are necessary to maintain all three funds. An insert specifying the rate changes will be enclosed in every utility bill, he said.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
