BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Bakersfield\u2019s City Council hit the pause button Wednesday on a proposed sewer rate hike, in the face of strong opposition from rate payers.<\/p>\n
Council members directed the city manager to find a more acceptable funding solution to fix long-delayed repairs to the city\u2019s sewer system.<\/p>\n
RELATED: City sewer tour hopes to clear the air on sewer rate increase <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe people who are on fixed income, elderly, because of decisions that our city council, our city manager, we have not been prudent with the money that we\u2019ve been getting,\u201d said Debbie Busby.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot afford to pay this huge increase. We can\u2019t. Seniors are having problems and a lot of people are losing their jobs,\u201d said Tami McClellan.<\/p>\n The City Manager Christian Clegg<\/a> faced questions.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy didn\u2019t we know and why didn\u2019t we know immediately that we were not going to meet our obligations, we\u2019re gonna need more funding,\u201d said Councilmember Ken Weir.<\/p>\n A two-year battle to fix Bakersfield\u2019s failing sewer system has been postponed yet again. The city plans to raise rates to $950 dollars a year. The current rate is $257 dollars a year \u2014 a 92% increase.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s fundamentally unfair\u2019: Proposed Kern County sewer rate increase public hearing rejected after split vote among supervisors <\/a><\/p>\n The new revenues are intended to fix what city engineers say is our failing infrastructure. Two wastewater plants are in dire need of repair.<\/p>\n But City Manager Clegg says there are bigger problems if the rates are not raised.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have pipes that are starting to fail, we have waste stations that are starting to fail, that we could not pay for those next year.\u201d<\/p>\n At the city council meeting Wednesday, a county attorney even made her own proposal, which involves a $750 million dollar bond but only raise rates by 20%.<\/p>\n