SEWER AUDIT ORDERED, BUT NOT FUNDED.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Confronted by about 400 San Fernando Valley residents complaining of excessive sewer charges, the Los Angeles City Council voted tentatively Tuesday to order an outside audit of the wastewater system and to look at a discount for owners of large lots.

Meeting in the Valley at the St. Nicholas Grand Ballroom, the council angered the crowd by delaying action on whether to actually fund the $400,000 audit until a Sanitation Bureau-initiated survey of other wastewater systems is completed in the next 90 days.

And to groans and boos the council split 7-7 on a motion by Councilman Hal Bernson to kill a franchise fee that annually diverts $20 million in sewer charges into the city general fund.

``You keep stonewalling,'' Bernson told his colleagues.

Then, Council President John Ferraro cast the deciding vote that deadlocked the motion.

``You are seeing what's happening downtown,'' Bernson said, looking at his constituents.

Madeleine Landry of Northridge told the council her sewer bill has gone from $48 to $350 and her water and sewer charges are now one-third of the amount of her mortgage.

``Something is radically wrong with the way they are figuring this and the people in the Valley are getting royally screwed,'' she said.

New homeowner Gregory Horowitz said he uses 1,100 cubic feet of water but is billed for 1,400 cubic feet of sewage.

``I implore you to be more fair with people,'' he said.

Added Carol Knapp, ``It's a scam. They are wasting or stealing our money.''

Gordon Murley, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, said the audit and benchmarking study are necessary to cut the Sanitation Bureau spending so that all sewer fees can be reduced.

``It really is unconscionable when people this year have been charged more for sewer charges than they have been for water,'' Murley said.

Property manager Mark Dolan told the council that it is unreasonable that Los Angeles residents pay more than residents of nearby cities, which use sewer service from Los Angeles.

``Why are we paying 10 times more than surrounding cites, like Glendale and Burbank?'' he asked.

City officials said they are in the process of renegotiating sewer service contracts with other cities.

Sanitation Bureau chief Judith Wilson acknowledged that the sewer budget has increased from $186 million 10 years ago to $653 million as the bureau embarked on a $3.2 billion construction program to upgrade the treatment facilities to comply with a federal court order.

``We have come a long way,'' she told the council. ``This costs money, there is no doubt.''

During the meeting, Wilson defended the city sewer-service program, saying the average $20.50 monthly sewer charge is in the lowest third among major cities in the nation and has not increased since 1992 because of cost-cutting measures.

``Comparatively speaking, we look pretty good,'' Wilson said.

Last year, the city stopped setting sewer charges at 60 percent of water used, and adopted a formula that bases year-round sewer charges on the water used during the previous year's winter - when, at least in theory, less water went into irrigation and swimming pools.

Many residents complain they are being billed for more sewage than the amount of water used in the same billing period.

Wilson said this year's abnormally wet El Nino winter should result in lower sewer charges next year.

She said the benchmarking study being done by her office will examine the costs of operations and maintenance at seven public sewer systems including Orange County's and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. It could identify local opportunities for cost savings, she said.

In contrast, Councilman Joel Wachs said his audit would compare Los Angeles with public and private sewer systems throughout the nation, would also look at construction costs, and would be done by an outside, independent consultant.

``You cannot let people who are spending the money audit themselves,'' he said, estimating costs could be cut by up to $70 million annually.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg won a delay in allocating funding for the audit until the $100,000 benchmarking survey is done.

``It makes no sense to me'' to go ahead, Goldberg said. ``We're going to pay $400,000 to study the $100,000 study.''

Ron Deaton, the council's chief legislative analyst, argued for the audit, saying: ``I think the situation as we have heard today is people do not believe us.''

The council authorized Deaton to seek competitive proposals from consultants interested in conducting the benchmarking study and audit.

Wachs said he is concerned that by delaying funding of the audit, the council may just be ``going through the motions.'' He noted that he and Bernson won council approval for an audit in 1993 but it was never done because the city attorney was concerned that it could hurt the city's position in litigation challenging sewer fees.

Bernson and Wachs won council approval of a motion to develop a method for giving sewer-charge discounts to large lots that use most of their water for irrigation, although some inner-city council members signaled they will probably fight the specific proposal when it returns for a vote.

Goldberg said that giving large-lot owners a discount would force an increase in fees for smaller-lot owners.

``If it goes down somewhere, it goes up somewhere else,'' she said. ``I don't believe you can do it without pitting one part of the city against another.''

Despite support from the audience of residents, Bernson and Wachs failed Tuesday to win council approval of the motion to kill the franchise fee that takes sewer service charges meant for the sewer system and diverts it to the general fund.

``This doesn't go for sewer maintenance,'' Bernson said. ``It goes into the general fund, which I think is illegal.''

However, Councilman Mike Feuer opposed immediately ending the franchise fee, saying it would put the budget out of balance.

An alternative motion to drop the fee next year deadlocked, largely along geographical lines.

The motion was opposed by council members Jackie Goldberg, Ruth Galanter, Mike Hernandez, Nate Holden, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Rita Walters and Ferraro. Ferraro represents part of the Valley.

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PHOTO Councilman Michael Feuer, left, speaks with Greg Horowitz of Tarzana about sewer issues during a council meeting Tuesday.

Terri Thuente/Daily News