Map shows the boundaries of the Los Osos Wastewater District, administered by SLO County Public Works. The Supervisors have set July 18 as the hearing date to protest proposed rate increases for next year. Map courtesy SLO County Public Works
Los Osos property owners will soon have a chance to speak up about proposed sewer rate changes from the County, as the annual Right to Vote on Taxes” process is held.
County Supervisors were asked to set July 18 as the formal date for protest voting on new sewer charges for next fiscal year (2023-24).
The charges appear on property tax bills and are paid by anyone hooked up to the community sewer system. They cover just the financing part of the $183-million project and not the actual flow coming from a home or commercial property.
That charge is dependent on water use and varies for everyone.
Sewer service to Los Osos is provided by County Public Works, which got the system — collection, treatment and disposal — built and operates it too.
This latest round of charges will include the homes in the Monarch Grove subdivision, which is next to Sunset Terrace off Los Osos Valley Road.
The County’s assessment district doesn’t cover the entirety of Los Osos as several areas were not required to hook up to the communitywide system. They include the Willow Drive neighborhood east of South Bay Boulevard and larger parcels off Mountain View Drive.
The County passed an ordinance in 2020 allowing for increases under the State’s Prop. 218 the so-called “Right to Vote on Taxes” law that requires an annual protest vote of ratepayers to protest increases.
Mainly, a Prop. 218 protest is a formality, as residents and businesses must have basic services like sewer and water or risk becoming uninhabitable.
With this 218 vote, ratepayers have a chance to
