Higher Sewage Bills For Sprawl

An editoral in the Sacramento Bee asks the board of the Sacramento Regional Sanitation District to use its sewer fees to discourage urban sprawl. The Bee notes that currently, the District charges new users the same fee to connect to the sewer system regardless of where they are located and how much it will cost to transport sewage. The District should change its policy on the sewer system hookup fee for new residents and businesses so those building farther out from the city center will have to pay more, according to the Bee. This change would make sense financially, since the farther out the hookup, the more money would have to be spent on infrastructure. Moreover, says the Bee, it makes sense to stop the current sewage system subsidy for urban sprawl; a tiered rate system would help to discourage development on the city fringes.