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The story of the sewer and money

I will explain the sewerage business and money in Yokohama City in an easy-to-understand manner.

Last Updated April 2, 2024

Expenses and financial resources required for the sewerage business

The financial resources for operating the sewerage business are mainly "sewerage fee", "city tax", "corporate bonds (borrowed money)" and "subsidies from the country".
The sewerage business, such as the operation and construction of facilities, requires more than 240 billion yen per year, including sewerage usage fees and taxes (city taxes) that are borne by everyone, corporate bonds, which are long-term borrowings, And subsidies from the government are used as financial resources.

Use of sewerage business resources

The operation of the sewerage business is broadly divided into "maintenance of facilities" and "construction of facilities".

The sewerage usage fee and city tax are mainly used for maintenance, and corporate bonds (borrowed money) and subsidies from the government are used for construction.

Maintenance and management of facilities

We perform operation management, cleaning, inspection investigation, repair of sewer facilities.
The financial resources for this are managed by "sewerage fee" and "city tax".

TV camera survey

Operation and management of water reclamation centers

Expenses for maintenance include power costs for operating the facility and repair costs for facilities.
The cost of treating sewage is the sewerage fee, and the cost of removing rain is covered by city tax.

Financial resources for maintenance and management

Construction of facilities

For inundation countermeasures and earthquake countermeasures, we are constructing new sewer pipes and renewing aging sewer facilities.
The financial resources for this are financed by "corporate bonds" and "subsidies from the government".

Shielding machines for construction

Since the constructed sewerage facilities will be used for a long time, long-term borrowings (corporate bonds) are made based on the idea that all generations who use the facilities will bear the cost fairly.
In addition, construction requires a large amount of money, and construction of sewers is also important in national policies, so subsidies are issued by the government.

Financial resources for construction

Principle of rainwater public expense and sewage private expense

Taxes (public expenses) are allocated to the cost of draining rainwater, and sewerage usage fees (private expenses) are mainly used for cleaning dirty water. This is called the "principle of rainwater public expenses and sewage private expenses".
Rainwater is a natural phenomenon, and the benefits of removing rainwater are widespread, so the cost for it is borne by taxes (city taxes), and sewage is generated by daily life and production activities. It is the idea of asking the sewer user to bear the burden according to.

Public expense of rainwater

Private expense of sewage

If you replace the sewerage fee with 100 yen

Converted sewerage usage fee to 100 yen

The graph on the right shows how to use the sewerage fee by converting it to 100 yen (from the fiscal year 2022 settlement value).
More than 50% are paid by repayment of borrowings and payment of interest, and the degree of freedom in using money is low.

About sewerage system usage fee income

Changes in sewerage usage fees

In fiscal 2022, the sewerage usage fee income was 53.4 billion yen (excluding tax).
Usage fee income has been declining in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue in the future.
We believe that a decrease in emissions per unit due to a decrease in the number of employees per household, etc., is one of the factors behind the decline in royalties revenue.

※Except for the basic amount of sewerage usage fees in Yokohama City, the lower the unit price, except for the basic amount.

Specifically, please see page of "sewerage fee for use" about sewerage fee.

Corporate bonds (borroweds)

Balance of corporate bonds (borroweds)

In Yokohama City, we have built a huge amount of sewage facilities of about 4 trillion yen so that almost all citizens can use the sewer.

As a result, the amount of borrowings has been extremely large, but we are steadily repaid to reduce the balance.

The graph on the right shows the balance of loans outstanding over the past 30 years.
In fiscal 2001, the peak amount was approximately 1.3 trillion yen, but at the end of fiscal 2022, it decreased by more than 680 billion yen to 606.1 billion yen.

Direction of management of sewerage business

Based on the "Yokohama City Sewerage Business Medium-Term Management Plan 2022", we will aim to balance the implementation of necessary initiatives and sound management while verifying the long-term financial situation. During the planning period, we will maintain the current sewerage usage fee unit price and system by promoting efforts to secure income and reduce expenditures.

As for the details of plan, please see page of "Yokohama-shi sewer business medium-term management plan 2022".

Pamphlet sewer and the story of money

Sewerage fees and taxes received from citizens for the maintenance and construction of sewerage facilities are used carefully.
This booklet introduces the structure of finance and financial resources that support the sewerage business and sewerage business in Yokohama City.
(The data in the booklet is based on the financial results for FY2021 (Reiwa 3).)

Story of sewer and money (PDF: 3,461KB) (issued in July 2023)

We distribute booklet in citizen information center (city hall the third floor), sewer River Bureau management promotion section (city hall the 24th floor).