City Sewer Rates to Climb 30% Over Four Years

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 8, 2007 at 2:30 PM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

San Diego City Council recently voted to raise sewer rates by more than 30 percent over the next four years. But residents in many other cities around the county could see their sewer rates go up as w

San Diego City Council recently voted to raise sewer rates by more than 30 percent over the next four years. But residents in many other cities around the county could see their sewer rates go up as well, because they use the city's treatment plants. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Two million people in San Diego county depend on the city of San Diego's sewer treatment facilities. That's because the cost of building plants like the one at Point Loma is extraordinary, and smaller cities can't afford it. So, when the cost of service for sewer treatment goes up for San Diego city residents, it goes up for other residents as far south as San Ysidro -- and as far north as Del Mar.

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San Diego's Metropolitan Wastewater Department has sent out bills to all its users, with increases to cover their share of the higher cost of service. Residents of other cities are not responsible for repairing the City of San Diego's sewer pipes, but they do have to pick up their share of the tab for the treatment upgrades required by more stringent state and federal laws. Whether sewer rates go up for those residents will depend on if their cities decide to pass on the higher costs that the city of San Diego is now charging them. Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.