Rates & Fees

An annual Sewer Service Charge is placed on your Santa Barbara County property tax statement. The charge appears on the tax statement as a line item listed as Summerland San Srvc Chrg. The sewer service charge is not a property tax and is not related to the assessed value of your property. It represents a charge for a service provided, similar to your gas, or electric bill. It is included on your property tax statement to save the administrative cost of generating and mailing our own invoices.

For annual sewer service rates see the rate schedule below, which was adopted through Ordinance 19.

For the Capital Recovery Buy-In Fee please refer to Ordinance 10 of the governing board of Summerland Sanitary District. If you need additional information please do not hesitate to contact the District at 805-969-4344. Click on the links below for viewing:

Ordinances relating to sewer service charges:

Ordinance 19: Ordinance and order of the governing board of the Summerland Sanitary District to amend and update its Ordinance No. 15 and No. 9 sewer service charges established by ordinance No. 8-15. FY2021/21 starts on July 1, 2021, and ends on June 30, 2020

Related to the Sewer Service Charges Ordinance 19 are the following documents:

Ordinance 15: Revising and amending certain sewer charges established by ordinance 9.
Ordinance 9: Amending ordinance 8 and revising and amending certain sewer service charges established by ordinance 8-15
Ordinance 8-15: Amending Ordinance 8, revising and amending certain sewer service charges established by Ordinance 18-14.
Ordinance 8: Adopting a general regulation providing for sewer service charges; fixing sewer service rates, and repeal of inconsistent ordinances.

Other Ordinances adopted by the District:

Ordinance 10: Establishing a new capital recovery fee.
Ordinance 16: Regulating the use of public and private sewers, the installation of sewer laterals, requiring permits for the installation of sewer laterals and regulating plumbing, drainage, sewer and requiring property owners to conduct video inspections of private sewer laterals that discharge into the District’s sewer system.
Ordinance 18: Amendment to Ordinance No. 16 shall remain in full force and effect the following added: all connections, including lateral, wye, or saddle at the Summerland Sanitary District sewer, shall be maintained at the expense of the property owner of the connection.
Ordinance 14: Establishing provisions for the enforcement of ordinances, rules and regulations of the Summerland Sanitary District.
Ordinance 12: Establishing grease and oil controls (FOG).
Ordinance 20: Establishing Miscellaneous Fees

Helpful Hints

These are some steps you can take to maintain your sewer line in optimum condition:

Don’t pour grease down your drains. Dispose of grease with your trash.
Don’t flush items that don’t belong down the toilet, such as large bulky items (diapers, rags, etc.) Many of the “disposable wipes” and similar products can contribute to sewer backups.
Identify the location of your sewer line cleanouts (access points) to your sewer line and keep them accessible in case a plumber needs to access them. Typically, they are near the house in a landscaped area or driveway.
If you have chronic root problems, one possible solution is to remove the trees and/or plants that may be the culprit(s).

New Connections

Property owners desiring sewer service for new construction, second units, additions, septic system conversion or other forms of development should contact the District to obtain specific instructions and guidelines. The process is often facilitated by meeting with District staff in person to discuss your project early in the process. To arrange a meeting or to obtain information about the process, please call the District office. The Summerland Sanitary District developed a Procedural Manual and Standard Specifications for the Construction of Sanitary Sewers that you review and download by clicking on the highlighted link.

Capital Recovery Fee
A Capital Recovery Fee is levied to connect to the District’s sanitary sewer system. This fee is charged to recover the cost of providing capacity in both the collection system and the treatment facility. Please contact District Office for current connection fee.

Annexation Required
If a property is not already within the District’s legal service area boundary, the property owner will be required to undertake annexation proceedings. This is a formal boundary change process administered by the Santa Barbara Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). Please contact the District to obtain information and requirements for annexation. District staff will typically work with applicants to navigate this process.

Summerland Sanitary District Boundary Map

click on the map for detailed version

Permits and Construction Standards
The Summerland Sanitary District inspects the construction and repair of all public and private sewers lines within its service area. A permit is required from the District when sewer line construction includes connecting or modifying the sewer mainline, or when rehabilitation work is performed. All work must be constructed in compliance with the District’s construction standards which can be obtained from the District’s office along with required permits. Please keep in mind that permits and guidelines from other agencies are separate from those imposed by the Sanitary District.

Miscellaneous Fees Schedule (Ordinance No. 20)

Sewer Permit Procession Fee	$232
Sewer Service Availability Letter Fee Renewal of Sewer Service Availability Letter Fee	$232 $ 96
Plan Check Fee	$314 Residential $585 Commercial
Inspection Fee	$534
Sewer Construction Fee	Deposit of 3.5% of estimate of public sewer improvements, which will be credited against the cost when the work is completed. Following final inspection of the construction of the sewer facilities the amount paid shall be reconciled so that the inspection fee represents the actual cost of inspection, billed at $123 an hour.
Sewer Atlas Update Fee	$232
Annexation Fee	Calculated at the time of annexation to the District.