It's a stinky situation. Nearly one hundred valley homeowners may go into foreclosure because they haven't paid a sewer assessment fee. The Coachella Valley Water District is now threatening to take their homes.
Back in 2006, some homeowners in Thousand Palms voted to build a sewer line. The water district did the work and homeowners promised to pay them back.
The area affected is called Assessment District 70. The boundaries are north of Datil Way, south of 30th Avenue, east of Thelma Street, West of Miguelito Drive.
There are roughly 770 homes in this area. Each homeowner's share is at least $10,000 dollars. Homeowners had the option of making installment payments through their property taxes.
"My bill went from $390 to $1,400 hundred dollars," said Deborah Soderlind, who has owned her home in Thousand Palms for nearly three decades. The CVWD sent Soderlind a letter in August threatening to foreclose her home. Soderlind said she hadn't paid her assessment fees since April.
"It's not that I didn't want to pay. The economy and job wise, things have gotten tight," she said.
The Water District says 85 property owners are in default and it has to collect that money to pay back bonds used to fund the eight million dollar sewer project.
"We're kind of caught in the middle. We can be sued by the bond holders," said Steve Robbins, CVWD General Manager.
"I did not vote," said Soderlind who was on vacation when the mail-in ballot special election was held.
Soderlind says she didn't even know the bond was passed until construction started. She made payments anyway until April when times got tough.
"As we all know, we're in a recession. Everyone is struggling. My work is short, it's seasonal," she said.
Adding insult to injury, Soderlind's home isn't even hooked up to the sewer line.
"I'm on septic tank. I don't need a sewer. A lot of people are paying for something we're not needing," she said.
The Coachella Valley Water District says the majority of homeowners wanted the sewer lines. Sixty percent approved the sewer project.
"Basically it was a democracy," Robbins said. "We don't want to own any homes in Thousand Palms. Our intent (is), and we're pushing hard, to get them to pay up. (We want to) reach deals with them," he added.
Soderlind says she wants to reach a deal too. She says she is willing to pay her sewer fees but she's hoping they will waive penalty fees.
The Coachella Valley Water District will hold a public meeting at the Thousand Palms Community Center Friday at 7:00pm to discuss the issue with homeowners.
