SANTA CLARITA, CA — A California state senator says he and the voters of this community were victims of a “bait and switch” by the Los Angeles County Sanitation District, which is now saying that Santa Clarita’s new ban on water softeners won’t prevent the likely tripling of sewer rates in that community.

Sen. George Runner, a Republican representing the district that includes Santa Clarita, was instrumental several years ago in sponsoring and getting enacted a law that required homeowners to be compensated for softener removals. The law also set in motion a local referendum in which voters had to decide whether they wanted a softener ban.

That referendum was held in November 2008, with a majority of voters favoring the ban that took effect January 1. Prior to the election, a key argument advanced by the county sanitation district in favor of the ban was that it would prevent major tax increases required to build new wastewater treatment facilities to handle chlorides entering existing wastewater plants. Recently, however, sanitation district officials have said that, even with the softener ban, they’ll still need to install new wastewater treatment equipment to remove enough chlorides to satisfy requirements of the regional water quality control board, a move that will more than triple local sewer rates.

In an opinion piece published May 17 by Santa Clarita’s local newspaper, The Signal, Runner wrote: “One wonders if voters would have voted down [the referendum] had they been told the truth. If voters knew that rates would be increased whether the measure was approved or not, they may have chosen to keep their water softeners.”

Voters “got duped,” Runner stated.

Voters themselves were irate to learn recently about the proposed rate increase despite the softener ban, as The Signal reported. In a May 6 public meeting, sanitation district officials told residents that the district learned after the election that the regional water quality control board would not agree to raise its allowable chloride level during drought years, which has necessitated spending for new wastewater treatment systems.

To read the full May 17 opinion piece by Sen. Runner, click here.

To read the full May 7 Signal article, click here.

For related information, click here.