A month doesn’t go by without a demand for higher taxes in some form or another from Pima County administrator Chuck Huckelberry. This month, he wants to raise the sewer user rate.
For those on fixed incomes, the increase is unwelcome, but not a surprise. The County has raised the rates annually over the past decade.
The Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Advisory Committee and the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department has announced that sewer rate payers may participate in a public meeting on Thursday, January 29, 2015, at 6:00 PM to learn about proposed increases.
The County delayed notifying the public and made the venue difficult for many to access. The public meeting will be held at the Water and Energy Sustainability Center, 2955 W. Calle Agua Nueva, in Tucson.
According to the Notice:
The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 PM. and will include a presentation on the proposed 2015 Financial Plan by Pima County Finance and Risk Management Director, Tom Burke. Advisory Committee members and Pima County staff will accept questions and comments after the presentation.
The 2015 Financial Plan focuses on RWRD’s financial needs to determine the optimal sewer rates needed to ensure that the County has sufficient revenues to meet all operating and maintenance expenses, all debt service payments and required reserves, and maintains an adequate debt service ratio to obtain favorable bond ratings. Mr. Burke is recommending the adoption of three automatic annual rate increases of four percent (4%) beginning on July 1 of 2015, 2016, and 2017.
The average monthly single-family residential sewer bill in Pima County is currently $40.81. For the average resident, the proposed increase to the monthly bill would be $1.64 on July 1, 2015. Four percent increases would be proposed each year through 2017. By 2017, the average resident would pay a monthly sewer bill of $45.91.
The Pima County Wastewater Reclamation Department will provide free van service to and from Downtown Tucson and the meeting location. The van will leave promptly at 5:30 PM from the Public Works Building loading dock, 201 N. Stone Ave., located at the north side of the building. The van will return to this location at approximately 8:20 PM after the meeting, which is expected to end at approximately 8:00 PM.
On Thursday, February 19, 2015, a second public meeting will be held from 8:00 AM. – 9:00 AM at the Pima County Administration Building, 130 W. Congress St., in the Pima County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room. If there are more commenters than time, the meeting will be extended. This public meeting will be followed by the regularly scheduled Advisory Committee meeting beginning at 9:00 AM during which the committee is currently scheduled to vote on a recommendation to the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
The proposed 2015 Financial Plan is available for review at the Public Works Building, 201 N. Stone Ave, 8th Floor, the Pima County Administration Building, 130 W. Congress, 6th Floor, and online at under the Public Meeting Notice for Proposed Sewer User Fee Increase – January 29, 2015 at http://webcms.pima.gov/government/wastewaterreclamation/.
Written comments can be sent to Tom Burke, Pima County Finance and Risk Management Department, 130 W. Congress, 10th Floor, Tucson, AZ 85701 or online at under the Send Department Feedback link at http://webcms.pima.gov/government/finance_and_risk_management/.