Sewers a tough sell

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The city’s infrastructure committee reached a tough

conclusion last week: the best way to pay for critical repairs also may

be the hardest to explain to residents who must be convinced to fork over

the money.

“We want to find a [financing] method that’s fair and flexible, but that

may be too complicated,” chairman Richard Harlow said in frustration. The

city says it needs $1.3 billion over the next 20 years to fix everything

from streets and sidewalks to sewers and storm drains.

While city, state and federal funds will cover part of the hefty bill,

previous committee meetings determined that a large portion will almost

certainly have to be funded through taxes or assessments, which require

voter approval.

Figuring out a way to pay for the $150 million in anticipated upgrades to

the storm drain system highlights the dilemma faced by the committee.

Levying an assessment would spread the pain equitably by targeting only

those property owners who receive a “special and direct” benefit from new

storm drains.

People would have to pay different rates depending on which district they

live in, and where in the district they reside. Exactly how much money

they would have to pay would be determined by an assessment engineer --

whose arcane methods none of the committee members seemed to understand.

It’s so difficult to explain that the majority of voters needed to pass

an assessment are likely to “turn off and say no,” committee member Chuck

Scheid said. “Maybe that explains why we haven’t fixed the infrastructure

all these years.”

He suggested the city take its chances with an unpopular tax, which would

be easier to understand but would require approval from two-thirds of the

voters. “If we can’t get a two-thirds vote, then so be it,” he said.

The committee is expected to make its recommendations to the City Council

by year’s end.