Sacramento Addresses the Cost of Sprawl

The Sacramento County Regional Sanitation District plans to invest $1.2 Billion in wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years. The District anticipates that the cost of sewer hook-ups will increase from $2,444 to $5,255 to help pay for new infrastructure needed to service growth in outlying areas. The sanitation district board has asked staff to review the way these costs are allocated so that homes generating the need for these new facilities will pick up a larger share of the cost. Currently every new house whether in the urban core or in outlying areas pays the same sewer hook-up fees. Planners assert that this fee structure is helping to subsidize sprawl and hinder higher density in-fill. Since Proposition 13, homeowners already have had to pick up a larger share of infrastructure costs for their homes. In the Sacramento area, this adds up to $19,181 to $35,441 per home. The building industry asserts that while they too believe that there should be more redevelopment and infill of older urban areas, these projects face NIMBY attitudes from neighbors. This article is the seventh of an occasional series, 'Growing Pains'.