Seattle may increase garbage, sewer rates

Garbage, sewer and drainage rates could all be going up next year in Seattle.

Including electrical and water bills, the typical single-family household could pay $146 a month next year for all utilities compared with the current typical monthly bill of $139.

"It's not exciting to me to be raising people's rates like this," said City Councilmember Richard Conlin, chair of the utilities committee, which Tuesday recommended approving the new rates. "We need to commit, if we're going to do this, that we're really going to be giving people the benefits."

The full City Council is expected to vote Monday.

If approved, rates for garbage pickup would increase 6.2 percent for most customers in 2008. Rates vary depending on use, but a typical single-family household would pay $23 a month compared with $21.55 now.

A business, such as a convenience store, would pay a monthly bill of $112.20, compared with $105.10 this year.

Seattle Public Utilities plans to use the money to pay for new programs such as recycling at city parks, and to rebuild transfer stations in Wallingford and South Park.

Under the proposal before the council, bills for drainage would be based on the size of the property and how much water would be likely to run off.

A property with forested land, for instance, would face a lower rate than a paved parking lot of a similar size.

The changes, Conlin said, are meant to make drainage charges fairer.

The monthly drainage bill for a typical single-family home, which is billed annually with property taxes, would rise to $13.74 in 2008 and $15.85 in 2009, from $11.83 now.

A convenience store on 0.2 acre that paid $26.42 per month in 2007 would pay $36.68 in 2008 and $40.61 in 2009.

The new revenue would go toward cleaning stormwater before it reaches Puget Sound, a new state requirement.

Sewage rates would go up 4 percent each year in 2008 and 2009.

The typical monthly bill for a single-family home would increase from $38.74 in 2007 to $40.39 in 2008 and $42.12 in 2009.

A convenience store's average monthly bill would increase from $111.75 in 2007 to $116.25 in 2008 and $121.50 in 2009.

Money from the new rates would also go to build storage facilities that could hold overflow from heavy storms.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com