Las Vegas votes to increase sewer fees

Las Vegas homeowners will see an additional increase to their sewer costs beginning next year.

The City Council on Wednesday voted to pass an ordinance that will tack a 4 percent increase on top of yearly consumer index increases already in place.

That means most homeowners in 2023 will pay an additional $19, pushing the current $270 fee to $289 per year.

The new rates also would apply to bottlers, dairies, restaurants and laundries, according to ordinance. Sewer connecting fees also would go up, driving that cost to $2,551 in 2023 per home.

The new fee structure will be in place for a decade, but federal grants the city has applied for might offset the city’s infrastructure costs, said Mike Janssen, the city’s infrastructure executive director.

“As much time as we talk about public safety, which is our No. 1 priority, we don’t have a city without a sewer system,” Councilman Brian Knudsen said before voting for the measure. “And we don’t have a city without water, and that is directly tied to our sewer system.”

Mayor Pro Tem Stavros Anthony and Councilwoman Michele Fiore voted against the ordinance. Fiore previously said that she was not opposed to the increase, but suggested the conversations take place when the economy was more “stable.”

Anthony is currently the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, while Fiore is running for state treasurer.

In a lengthy presentation Wednesday, Janssen told the City Council about a dire need to increase the fees to conform to a growing Las Vegas, and to maintain and expand aging sewer infrastructure to meet the city’s needs.

Sewer service in Las Vegas costs about half the national average, is less than in North Las Vegas and Henderson, and is significantly cheaper than Carson City and Reno, said Janssen. Only Clark County has lower costs, but also a larger plant, and higher-paying customers that include the resorts on the Strip

No increases would lead to shortfalls in the utility’s budget for planned infrastructure projects, such as the expansion of the east valley’s sewer treatment plant, Janssen stressed.

“At the end of the day, growth requires additional capacity, not just in our collection system, but also at our main treatment plan,” he said. “Every time a new house, every time a new restaurant; store connects to our sewer, it takes up more capacity that was there beforehand.”

Currently, the sewer treatment plant handles a daily 50-million-gallon-flow that puts it at 82 percent capacity, Janssen said. State and federal guidelines require a municipality to plan on expanding when the capacity reaches 85 percent, which could come as early as next year, Janssen said.

Additionally, because of a strained supply chain, costs for key chemicals used to process the wastewater are projected to rise from $4.75 million to $7.3 million next year, Janssen said.

“That’s a huge hit in materials that we cannot do without,” he said. “We have no choice but to pay that bill.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.