Salida restaurants face steep charges for wastewater service

Restaurants send grease, oils and other stuff down the drain, and that requires higher-than-normal treatment in the local sewer plant.

That is the stated reason why restaurants in Salida received eye-popping bills this fall from the Salida Sanitary District.

Mike Masellis, owner of a Broadway Avenue commercial building, said his sewer service bill is thousands of dollars higher this year because of the charges applied to La Hacienda, a restaurant that leases space in his building. He said the restaurant owners can’t afford for him to pass the charges on to them.

“The lady that runs the restaurant went through the roof when I told her,” Masellis said.

The Salida Sanitary District said it raised sewer service charges this year to pay for steeper operating costs and repairs on aging equipment. The district also needs to create a reserve fund for equipment breakdowns and other emergencies, General Manager Mike Gilton said.

Salida’s rates were restructured to require commercial customers to pay their fair share, based on costs of treating their wastewater. The new formulas, outlined in a March rate study, were designed so that ratepayers are not subsidizing heavy users such as restaurants.

Monthly rates for the 4,200 residential customers in Salida are going up 4 percent this year. The sewer charges also were adjusted for schools, churches, hotels, offices and industrial users. The charges for the entire year appear on Salida property-tax bills.

Only two voters protested the rate increases during a Proposition 218 process completed in June, Gilton said.

Masellis was charged about $1,300 for sewer service last year and his bill is $6,533 for 2016-17. Gilton said the new charges for some fast-food restaurants near Highway 99 in Salida are above $10,000 for the year, depending on seating capacity.

Gilton said a couple of restaurants have asked questions about the charges. He talked with Masellis to evaluate his bill and see if it can be reduced. Charges could be reconsidered for other business owners as well, the manager said.

“I am telling them that no matter what happens, it is not going to be the same as last year,” Gilton stressed.

Masellis said he took his concerns to Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow’s office, which asked the sanitation district about his complaint. Gilton said the annual charges for Masellis could be reduced to $2,200 or $2,000 by reclassifying the Mexican restaurant as a takeout eatery.

Masellis said $2,000, or $166 a month, is high compared with what he pays for his restaurant buildings in Modesto. He pointed to a $72 monthly sewer charge for a sit-down restaurant on Coffee Road in Modesto.

Gary Horton, president of the elected Salida Sanitary District board, said he had no idea if the board will reconsider the sewer charges for restaurants.

Gilton said the rate-setting formula is fairly complex and he will apprise the district board of what he has done to address complaints. “We are just trying to be equitable,” he said.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Salida restaurants face steep charges for wastewater service."