BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The local Service Employees International Union is awaiting a judge’s ruling on whether it can join in on a current lawsuit filed against the city of Bakersfield for its five-year sewer rate hike plan.
A legal battle continues over Bakersfield’s sewer rates that jumped to $475 in June and will increase by $100 dollars next four years until it reaches $875 by the end of the decade.
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Following this, Kern County filed a lawsuit against the city, hoping to change the increase.
“And there’s no one in the lawsuit that represents residential ratepayers,” said Adrian Ochoa, the attorney representing SEIU Local 521.
“The county has commercial properties, they’re not homeowners … who are going to pay most of these hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of rate increases over the next five years,” said Ochoa.
In the most recent court hearing, Judge Bernard Barmann Jr. put the case under submission.
“What that means is he’s going to go back and take a closer look at the papers and a closer look at the law,” said Ochoa.
A ruling can happen at any moment, but it means SEIU Local 521 can still join in the county’s lawsuit.
The delay is in the potential differences in the eyes of the court.
Though suing on the same laws as the county, SEIU is representing a different entity, and does present different arguments.
The city argued there are different legal procedures that SEIU would need to take in order to be directly involved with the County’s lawsuit.
“The lawsuit was a way to start a conversation, and if we have to continue with the lawsuit, we will. But we’re open to just being solution-oriented for the community,” said Riko Mendez.
Mendez is the CEO of the SEIU region that represents the California’s Bay and Central Valley Areas.
He said Bakersfield’s sewer rate increase is out of the norm.
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“There’s a lot of fear because of the continued increase over the next few years and it gets for many families into something that’s unaffordable,” said Mendez.
The union hopes discussions for alternative rate changes with the city happen so that, in their eyes, there’s a better resolution for community members.
“That’s our goal. Solve the problem. Make sure the community is not paying for something inappropriately and move on, right, in a way together, if we can do it together,” said Mendez.
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