By Rusty Bradshaw
Independent Newsmedia

Sun Cities residents are gearing up for a sewer fight.

The Arizona Corporation Commission voted 4-1 June 13 to accept the administrative law judge’s recommendation to consolidate five EPCOR Water Co. wastewater districts. That will mean a large increase for EPCOR sewer customers in Sun City, Youngtown and Sun City West.



Commissioner Bob Burns was the lone dissenter.

“We need to fight this, or accept higher sewer and water rates,” Sun City resident Bill Pearson said June 12, anticipating a full consolidation order.

Some Corte Bella residents, served by the Agua Fria Wastewater District, believe consolidation is fair because it levels rates paid in all districts.

“EPCOR uses the same wastewater treatment facilities for all of us, yet for many years each community has paid different rates for the same service,” Corte Bella resident Norman Herschfield stated in a letter to the editor published June 14.

He noted his current rate is $71.16 and that rate is actually a reduction from the rate charged until it was increased two years ago.

“We pay more than twice what residents of Sun City and Sun City West pay for the same service,” Mr. Herschfield stated.



The Sun City Home Owners Association Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to move forward with an appeal.

However, rates in the other three districts cover more than the cost of the sewage treatment plant, according to Greg Eisert, Sun City Home Owners Association board member and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman.

“They are still paying for the installation of their infrastructure, while infrastructure in the Sun Cities were paid off years ago,” Mr. Eisert explained. “And because it was more recent, their infrastructure was built at a higher cost.”

There were some positive aspects of the commission’s final decision, according to Mr. Eisert. There were three Amendments passed that would reduce the revenue requirement by about $600,000 and a slight adjustment to the schedule of increases to Sun City and Youngtown residents, he explained. The final positive measure was the approval of a five-year adjustment period. That means the Sun City District rates will more gradually increase over the next five years to meet the overall ruled increase number.

“The bottom line doesn’t change,” Mr. Eisert said. “The Commissioners have ordered the Sun City District ratepayers (Sun City and Youngtown) to pay at least $5 million per year, which is the amount above what EPCOR stated it costs them to service the district, to the ratepayers in the other four districts that have existed up until now.”

Sun Cities residents can appeal the ACC’s consolidation decision, but it will be costly, according to Mr. Pearson.

“Sun City Home Owners Association and Youngtown each put in $15,000 for a specialized attorney to help up to this point,” he said. “It is estimated that an appeal could cost $60,000.”

SCHOA officials are asking Sun City residents to donate to a fund to assist with legal costs of an appeal.

Sun City resident Gene Westemeier suggested Recreation Centers of Sun City provide the funds.

“We are a $10 million corporation, that amount is just a drip in the bucket,” he said at the June 12 member/director exchange meeting.

However, RCSC governing documents do not allow cardholder funds to be used in that manner, according to Rich Hoffer, RCSC board president.

“We could certainly make a statement in support of an appeal,” he said.

PORA of Sun City West officials were discussing their best options for a response to the ACC decision once it was made, according to Rob Robbins, PORA board president, in a June 13 email prior to the ACC vote.



Ida Eisert, RCSC board member, reminded residents the ACC’s decision to order consolidation of the wastewater districts will lead to an EPCOR request to consolidate their water districts serving the same five areas. EPCOR officials confirmed that.

“As we’ve shared with our customers at community meetings, we expect to file that case this year after the Arizona Corporation Commission arrives at a decision on the pending wastewater consolidation case,” Rebecca Stenholm, EPCOR spokeswoman, stated in an email.

As part of its rate request filed in July 2016, EPCOR officials included consolidating five wastewater districts — Sun City, Sun City West, Agua Fria, Anthem and Mohave — that service Northwest Valley customers. Sun Cities residents have strongly opposed combining the districts because they will pay a heavy price.

EPCOR officials claim their consolidation request stems from an order from the ACC, dating back as far as 2009.

“As it relates to water consolidation, EPCOR is required under an existing order from the Arizona Corporation Commission to file a water consolidation rate case for all of its Arizona districts by July 2018,” Ms. Stenholm stated.

The ACC order came in December 2009 and was followed up by orders in January 2011 and September 2015.
Sun City Wastewater District customers are the oldest and poorest of all of EPCOR’s wastewater customers, according to SCHOA’s initial brief. Based on the partial settlement in this case, Sun City’s monthly wastewater rates should increase at most only7.2 percent, from $22.11 to $23.70. Instead, with consolidation it would cause a massive rate increase from $22.11 to $41.02, a 76.3 percent increase. Sun City West rates would increase from $32.46 to $41.02, a 26 percent increase.

However, customers in the other three districts would see reductions in their wastewater bills under a consolidated district.

Mr. Eisert, during a SCHOA board meeting May 23, said water rate increases could be more substantial than the proposed wastewater increase. But Ms. Stenholm could not confirm that.

“We don’t have any numbers to share at this point, though,” she stated. “We have yet to do the calculations.”