A proposed sewer fee increase currently under Honolulu City Council review could see resident and commercial customers shell out more than 124% above what they pay now. A substantial hike to roll out over a 10-year period, not many in the community are aware of the plan, but they should be. It falls to the city Department of Environmental Services (ENV), which runs Oahu’s largest sewage utility, to perform wide community outreach on this costly but necessary endeavor.

Revenue from the rate hike will fund steadily rising operations and maintenance costs, capital improvement projects (CIP), loan payoffs and inflation. Within the $10.1 billion CIP outlay is $2.5 billion in upgrades to the Sand Island Water Treatment Plant, required under a 2010 federal consent decree. With phase one construction well underway and phase two in planning, that project must be completed by 2035. Other big-ticket items include continued rehabilitation, reconstruction and replacement of ENV’s sprawling gravity sewer system, pump station and plant operations, and program management, basin planning, equipment and support.

To fund these and other future projects, Bill 60 calls for a total sewer fee hike of 115%, with bumps coming at even intervals over the next decade. A 9% upward adjustment will cover the first six years starting in 2026, to be followed by increases of 8%, 7%, 6% and 5% in the final four years. City estimates peg the average monthly sewer bill at $248.53 by July 2034, amounting to a 124.1% increase as compared to current fees.

At the same time, ENV plans to shift its rate structure. Sewer fees are broken into two main parts: a base charge to account for operations and maintenance, and a volume charge that is based on a customer’s water use. Currently, bill breakdowns are 70% base charge and 30% volumetric, but that will gradually migrate over a four-year phase-in to a 50/50 split. ENV says the change is a more equitable solution, allowing residents to lower their monthly fees by using less water. But with baseline rates projected to more than double out-of-pocket costs for the average single-family home, equitable is a relative term.

That is not to say ENV is overshooting. The utility provides an essential service to nearly all of Oahu — save for those with cesspools — and does so with great efficiency. But why raise rates now and, more importantly, why is the public hearing about this heady proposal at the eleventh hour?

The city last increased residential sewer fees in 2016, when an 8% hike was instituted to fund the city’s waste collection system. It has been 14 years since the consent decree was reached between the Sierra Club and federal, state and city agencies, and in that time ENV has been largely on track.

At a Nov. 7 Council meeting, ENV Deputy Director Michael O’Keefe said the new fee structure has been in the works for about 12 months, with the final figures derived from multiple meetings with an advisory board consisting of about 35 community members, including members of “six or seven neighborhood boards.” According to O’Keefe, ENV “looked into” raising fees a couple of years ago, but declined due to COVID. Now, though the economy is still reeling from pandemic fallout, Oahu’s wastewater needs — from Sand Island to other CIPs planned through 2040 — can no longer wait.

The city wants Bill 60 reviewed by the Council this month ahead of potential approval by January, a woefully truncated timeline to adequately inform the general public about the hit to their pocketbooks. Beyond the advisory board, O’Keefe and ENV Director Roger Babcock have been attending neighborhood board meetings to get the word out. More outreach must be done.

As the Council mulls Bill 60 in committee, it must ensure that proposed rate structures are fair and balanced, while considering concurrent economic stressors such as higher shipping and bus/transit rates also being proposed now. Some imperatives are more necessary than others. For more information, visit 808ne.ws/sewerfees.