The purpose of the sewer service charge is to raise revenue for the cost of maintenance and operation of the Castro Valley Sanitary District wastewater facilities used for the collection, treatment, and disposal of wastewater and for renewal and replacement costs in accordance with Federal and State Revenue Program guidelines. The funds derived from the sewer service charge shall be used for only those purposes provided for in Division 5, Part 3, Chapter 6, Article 4 (commencing with Section 5470) of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California.
(§ 1, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; § 1, Ord. 17, 02-06-1951; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978; § 1, Ord. 162, 07-01-2014)
Terms used or referred to herein in this chapter shall be defined as follows and not transferable to other sections:
(a) 
“Dwelling unit”
shall mean:
(1) 
A detached single-family residential dwelling, including a mobile home, designed for occupancy by one family; or
(2) 
Each separate housekeeping unit in a duplex, triplex, fourplex, townhouse or condominium, apartment house, mobile home park, or other type of multiresidential development, each of which is designed for occupancy by one family only.
(b) 
“Accessory dwelling unit”
means a residential unit, no larger than the maximum size authorized for use as an accessory dwelling unit as defined by Alameda County. The unit shall have a separate kitchen, sleeping, and bathroom facility, which is located on the same individual parcel of land with the same numerical street address as the single-family dwelling unit, but which is smaller than (or otherwise subservient to) the single-family dwelling unit, that serves as the principal residence on the parcel of land.
(c) 
“Commercial or institutional users”
shall mean those users discharging domestic wastewater from any parcel or portion thereof and shall include the following:
(1) 
Commercial or business establishments; and
(2) 
Schools, churches, hospitals, convalescent homes, parks, public office and service buildings, public transportation facilities, or other types of public facilities or publicly owned facilities available for public use.
(d) 
“Domestic wastewater”
shall mean wastewater of a quality essentially similar to that of a single-family dwelling.
(e) 
“Owner”
shall mean any human being, individual, firm, company, partnership, association, and private or public and municipal corporations, the United States of America, the State of California, districts and all political subdivisions, governmental agencies, and mandatories thereof.
(§ 2, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978; § 1, Ord. 162, 07-01-2014; § 1, Ord. 171, 03-07-2017; § 1, Ord. 174, 11-07-2017)
The owner of each parcel of property as it appears on the Assessor’s records of Alameda County lying within the Castro Valley Sanitary District and upon which there are wastewater facilities shall pay a sewer service charge in accordance with the purpose for which said parcel is used, as hereinafter set forth in Section 4403. In the event that the use of any parcel results in the discharge of wastewater in more than one classification, there shall be an annual charge for each classification of use of said parcel and the annual sewer service charges for such parcel shall be the aggregate of all such annual charges.
(§’3, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; § 2, Ord. 17, 02-06-1951; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978)
The rates to be charged shall be as follows:
Classifications of Use
Annual Charge
Effective 7/01/2025
Effective 7/01/2026
Residential
 
 
Residential Dwelling Unit – Including single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses, and apartments.
$583.74
$618.77
Accessory Dwelling Units – Residential unit that is no larger than the maximum size authorized for use as an accessory dwelling unit as defined and permitted by Alameda County.
$583.74
$618.77
Other – Mobile home spaces.
 
 
Commercial Users
 
 
Auto Repair Services
$2,054.62
$2,177.90
Bakeries
$2,553.40
$2,706.61
Barbers
$1,070.39
$1,134.61
Bars/Drinking Places
$1,690.54
$1,791.97
Beauty Services
$2,077.28
$2,127.72
Car Washes
$4,646.85
$4,925.66
Coin Operated Laundromats
$3,610.44
$3,827.07
Dentists
$1,865.29
$1,977.21
Eating Places – Fast Food
$7,478.16
$7,926.85
Eating Places – Other
$3,396.85
$3,600.67
Eating Places – Restaurant 0-50 Seats
$4,759.72
$5,045.30
Eating Places – Restaurant Over 50 Seats
$9,520.64
$10,091.88
Eating Places – Take Out
$3,740.29
$3,964.71
Fitness Centers/Health Clubs
$2,474.52
$2,622.99
Gas Stations
$3,003.65
$3,183.87
Grocery Markets
$5,101.95
$5,408.07
Hairdressers
$2,077.67
$2,202.33
Health Services
$1,657.77
$1,757.23
Laundering Services
$3,372.58
$3,574.94
Limited Food Markets
$2,410.20
$2,554.81
Miscellaneous Commercial
$1,054.62
$1,117.89
Mortuaries/Funeral Homes
$1,466.02
$1,553.98
Motels/Hotels (per Bed)
$580.10
$614.90
Pre-Schools/Daycare Facilities
$1,387.14
$1,470.37
Professional Offices
$1,003.64
$1,063.85
Retail
$1,033.98
$1,096.02
Veterinarian Services
$1,509.72
$1,600.30
Warehousing
$1,075.24
$1,139.76
Institutional Users
 
 
Churches
$1,989.08
$2,108.42
Community Services/Organizations
$1,417.47
$1,502.52
Eden Hospital
$100,356.94
$106,378.36
Miscellaneous Institutional
$1,486.65
$1,575.85
Nursing/Care Homes (Per Bed)
$201.45
$213.54
Parks
$1,230.59
$1,304.42
Schools
$15,326.48
$16,246.06
(§ 3, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978; § 1, Ord. 61, 05-01-1979; § 3, Ord. 73, 06-12-1984; § 3, Ord. 83, 06-07-1988; § 3, Ord. 87, 06-05-1990; § 3, Ord. 93, 06-18-1991; § 3, Ord. 96, 06-17-1992; § 3, Ord. 112, 06-18-1996; § 1, Ord. 130, 07-01-2002; § 1, Ord. 136, 06-01-2004; § 1, Ord. 138, 07-01-2005; § 1, Ord. 141, 06-06-2006; § 1, Ord. 144, 06-05-2007; § 1, Ord. 146, 06-03-2008; § 1, Ord. 154, 07-01-2011; § 1, Ord. 159, 07-01-2013; § 1, Ord. 166, 06-16-2015; § 1, Ord. 171, 03-07-2017; § 1, Ord. 173, 06-06-2017; § 1, Ord. 174, 11-07-2017; § 1, Ord. 181, 05-07-2019; § 1, Ord. 184, 04-07-2020; § 1, Ord. 186, 05-04-2021; § 1, Ord. 195, 05-15-2023; § 1, Ord. 203, 06-03-2025)
The owner of any parcel who finds that the charges for said property are mis-categorized, miscounted or should be classified as a low-flow generator as applied to his parcel, may make written application to the Sanitary District stating the circumstances and requesting an appeal for charges for sewer services to his parcel. If such application is approved, District personnel may grant such appeal. In the event the Petitioner is appealing as a low-flow generator, such appeal must be considered each year as follows:
(a) 
Petitioner (Property Owner) shall demonstrate by producing three years bill review of East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) water bills for District personnel review, and flow monitoring results if requested by Castro Valley Sanitary District, at Petitioner’s cost and performed by a Certified and Castro Valley Sanitary District Approved Laboratory. Annual flows and strength shall not exceed Residential strength levels as shown in the Castro Valley Sanitary District Comprehensive User Charge and Connection Fee Study dated August 2001 and shall comply with Castro Valley Sanitary District Code Article VI, Chapter 1, Section 6100. Residential strength levels (average varies depending on average water usage per capita): BOD (ppm) = 200; SS (ppm) = 200.
(b) 
Low Flow Generator Minimum SSC. If an appeal is granted, the low flow generator minimum use charge will be no less that the Residential annual charge per section 4403 of this Code. Rates are to be adjusted in accordance with Castro Valley Sanitary District’s Policy & Procedures Manual, Section 3520.
(§ 3, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978; § 1, Ord. 147, 12-02-2008; § 1, Ord. 162, 07-01-2014)
Except as provided elsewhere in this Chapter, the District shall ascertain the amount of each sewer service charge applicable to each parcel in the District, and shall mail to the owner thereof a bill for the first installment on or before November 1 of each year and a bill for the second installment on or before the following February 1 of each year. Accounts which are billed on the basis of water meter readings, pump readings or other periodic means or methods shall be billed directly to the owner by a method and on a frequency as determined by the District.
Each bill so mailed shall contain a statement that a delinquency in payment for sixty (60) days shall constitute a lien against the parcel against which the charge is imposed, and that when recorded shall have the force, effect, and priority of a judgment lien for three years unless sooner released or otherwise discharged.
Failure of the District to mail any such bill or failure of the owner to receive any such bill shall not excuse the owner of any parcel from the obligation of paying any sewer service charge for any such parcel.
All residential sewer service charges shall become due and payable in installments as follows: one-half thereof on November 1 of each year and one-half thereof on the following February 1 of each year. The first installment due on November 1 of each year is delinquent if not paid by 5:00 P.M. on December 10 of each year. The second installment due February 1 of each year is delinquent if not paid by 5:00 P.M. on the following April 10 of each year.
(§ 3, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978; amended § 2, Ord. 130, 07-01-2002)
Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter for collection of sewer service charges through general tax law, whenever a delinquency shall occur for non-payment, a penalty of ten percent (10%) shall attach to the delinquent charge and for each month that such charge remains delinquent a further penalty of one-half of one percent (.5%) of said basic charge shall be added.
After delinquency for sixty (60) days, such unpaid charge and penalty shall constitute a lien upon the parcel of land against which the charge was levied.
(§ 4, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978)
Pursuant to the provisions of Division 5, Part 3, Chapter 6, Article 4, of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California, and subject to the exceptions hereinafter set forth, the District hereby elects as an alternative procedure for the collection of sewer service charges prescribed or imposed by the provisions of this Chapter to have all such sewer service charges for each fiscal year commencing with fiscal year 1978-79, collected on the tax roll in the same manner, by the same persons, and at the same time as, and together with and not separately from, general taxes.
(a) 
The District’s Manager shall annually prepare and file with the District Secretary on or before the 20th day of July, a written report containing a description of each and every parcel of real property herein above mentioned in this Chapter, and the amount of the sewer service charge for each parcel for the forthcoming fiscal year, computed in conformity with the charges prescribed by the provisions of this Chapter. The parcels of real property included in said report may be described by reference to maps prepared in accordance with Section 327 of the Revenue and Taxation Code of the State of California and on file in the Office of the County Assessor of Alameda County, California, or by reference to plats or maps, on file in the Office of the District.
(b) 
The District Secretary shall cause notice of the filing of said report and of the time and place of hearing thereon to be published prior to the date set for hearing in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published within the County of Alameda. Said publication of said notice shall be once a week for two successive weeks. Two publications in a newspaper published once a week or oftener, with at least five (5) days intervening between the respective publication dates not counting such publication dates, are sufficient. The period of notice commences upon the first day of publication and terminates at the end of the fourteenth, including therein the first day.
(c) 
The District Secretary shall also cause a notice in writing of the filing of the first report hereunder proposing to have such charges for fiscal year 1978-79 collected on the tax roll and of the time and place of hearing thereon, to be mailed to each person to whom any parcel or parcels of real property described in said report is assessed on the last equalized assessment roll available on the date said report is prepared, at the address shown on said assessment roll or as known to the District Secretary, in accordance with said Division 5, Part 3, Chapter 6, Article 4 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) 
If the District Board adopts said report for fiscal year 1978-79, then the requirements for notice in writing to the persons to whom parcels of real property are assessed shall not apply to hearings on reports prepared in subsequent fiscal years, but notice by publication as herein above provided shall be adequate.
(e) 
At the time stated in the above-mentioned notice, the District Board shall hear and consider all objections or protests, if any, to said report referred to in said notice and may continue the hearing from time to time. If said District finds that protest is made by owners of a majority of separate parcels of property described in the report, then the report shall not be adopted and the charges shall be collected separately from the tax roll and shall not constitute a lien against any parcel or parcels of land.
(f) 
Upon the conclusion of the hearing, said District Board may adopt, revise, change, reduce, or modify any charge or overrule any or all objections, and shall make its determination upon each charge as described in said report, which determination shall be final.
(g) 
On or before the tenth day of August of each year following such final determination, the District Secretary shall file with the Auditor of the County of Alameda a copy of said report with a statement endorsed thereon over his signature that it has been finally adopted by the Board of Directors of the Castro Valley Sanitary District, and the Auditor of the County of Alameda shall enter the amounts of the charges against the respective lots or parcels of land as they appear on the current assessment roll. If the property is not described on the roll, the Auditor of the County of Alameda may enter the description thereon together with the amounts of the charges, as shown in the report.
(h) 
The amount of the charges shall constitute a lien against the lot or parcel of land against which the charge has been imposed as of the date prescribed by law as the lien date for general property taxes. The Tax Collector of the County of Alameda shall include the amount of the charges on bills for taxes levied against the respective lots and parcels of land.
(i) 
Thereafter the amount of the charges shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner and by the same persons as, together with and not separately from, the general taxes for the District and shall be delinquent at the same time and thereafter be subject to the same delinquency penalties.
(j) 
All laws applicable to the levy, collection, and enforcement of general taxes of the District, including but not limited to, those pertaining to the matters of delinquency, correction, cancellation, refund, and redemption, are applicable to such charges, except that if any real property to which such charges relate has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value, or if a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value has been created and attaches thereon, prior to the date on which the first installment of such taxes would become delinquent, then the lien which would otherwise be imposed shall not attach to such real property and the charges relating to such property shall be transferred to the unsecured roll for collection. The Tax Collector of Alameda County may, in his discretion, issue separate bills for such charges and separate receipts for collection on account of such charges. The County of Alameda shall be compensated for services rendered in connection with the levy, collection, and enforcement of such charges in an amount to be fixed by agreement between the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County and the Board of Directors of the Castro Valley Sanitary District.
(k) 
The sewer service charges for any and all governmental or public parcels or for any parcel which is not subject to taxation on the tax roll shall be collected in accordance with other provisions of this Chapter.
(l) 
If any parcel connected to or discharging wastewater into the District sewer system is omitted from the above-mentioned report or said tax roll either because the charge therefore shall not have yet been ascertained by the District as of the date of said report or for any other reason, the sewer service charge for such parcel shall be collected in the manner provided elsewhere in this Chapter. If the charge for any parcel, as shown on said report for fiscal year 1978-79, or subsequent fiscal years, should be less than that which would be the charge therefore under the provisions of this Chapter, the balance of such charge shall be collected in the manner provided elsewhere in this Chapter.
(§ 4, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978; § 1, Ord. 162, 07-01-2014)
In the event of the failure of any owner to pay when due any sewer service charges, applicable to a parcel owned by him, the District may enforce payments of such delinquent charges in any of the following manners:
(a) 
The District may have such parcel disconnected from the sanitary sewer system. In the event such disconnection should create a public hazard or nuisance, the Manager or his representatives may enter upon the parcel for the purpose of doing such things as may be reasonably necessary to alleviate or remove such hazard or menace. The owner of such parcel shall have a duty to reimburse the District for all expenses incurred by District in disconnecting any such parcel, or in doing other things authorized by this Section; and no reconnection shall be made until all such charges are paid.
(b) 
During the period of non-connection or disconnection, habitation of such parcel by human beings may constitute a public nuisance, whereupon the Sanitary Board may cause proceedings to be brought for the abatement of the occupancy of said parcel by the human beings. In such event, and as a condition of connection or reconnection, there shall be paid to the District reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of suit arising in said action.
(c) 
The District may institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect any charges, penalties, and interest which may be due and payable in the same manner as any other debts owing to the District may be collected, in which event the District shall have judgment for the costs of suit and reasonable attorney’s fees.
(d) 
Any and all delinquent payments may be placed on the tax roll, and collected with the property taxes, as provided in this Chapter.
(e) 
Such other action may be taken as may be authorized by law and the District Board.
All powers authorized by this Section for the enforcement and collection of said sewer service charges, penalties, and interest are cumulative and may be pursued alternatively or collectively as the District determines.
(§ 4, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978)
No credit, adjustment, or refund will be made to any owner because the structure or any portion thereof on a parcel is vacant or the wastewater facilities are not being utilized.
(§ 5, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978)
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional or unenforceable.
(§ 5, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953; added, § 1, Ord. 58, 03-07-1978)
(§ 6, Ord. 14, 07-10-1950; repealed, § 1, Ord. 28, 12-15-1953)