Picture two Hilo houses listed at about the same price. One sends its wastewater to the county plant on the Puhi Bay shoreline. The other uses a cesspool in the yard. Each has a wastewater cost already on the calendar, and neither cost is part of the asking price. Hawaii County's proposed rate schedule raises both costs over the next five years. The bigger increase lands on the cesspool side.
Where cesspool information comes from in a Hilo sale
Hawaii's seller disclosure law, HRS Chapter 508D, requires sellers to disclose material facts they know about or control. The chapter text does not set up a separate disclosure for cesspools. In the 2026 session, a bill draft called HB 1749 HD2 proposed a cesspool disclosure form that buyers would get before signing a contract, starting January 1, 2027. That draft carried a placeholder effective date of July 1, 3000, and we found no record that it became law.
County records give buyers a way to confirm how a particular house is served, and that matters because sewer service doesn't follow neighborhood lines. In August 2025, a Keaukaha community representative told Hawaii News Now that most of the community still relied on cesspools or septic tanks and had no sewer lines under its roads. The county's Department of Environmental Management publishes an online system map and sewer-network maps. Owners can also file a public information request to find out whether a specific property can connect.
What the sewered house is signing up for
Under County Council Bill 183, single-unit and multi-unit residential customers would move from today's flat $52 a month to $63 on January 1, 2027. The fee would then step up each January until it reaches $125 in 2031. Here is the full proposed schedule, alongside the fees that apply to properties that don't send wastewater straight into a sewer main:
| Proposed charge | Current | Jan 1, 2027 | Jan 1, 2028 | Jan 1, 2029 | Jan 1, 2030 | Jan 1, 2031 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-unit residential, monthly | $52 | $63 | $76 | $91 | $108 | $125 |
| Gang cesspools, monthly per unit | $25 | $32 | $38 | $46 | $54 | $62 |
| Septage and cesspool waste, hauler fee per 500 gallons | $64 | $100 | $140 | $180 | $217 | $252 |
For a sewered single-family home, the first step adds $11 a month. Over five years it adds up. At today's rate, 2027 through 2031 would cost $3,120. Under the proposed schedule, the same five years come to $5,556. By 2031 the yearly sewer charge would be $1,500, up from $624 now. Even then, DEM says Hawaii County's sewer rates would stay about 50% below the state average.
These figures come from the version of the bill released for public review. On October 6, 2026, the council's Policy Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources Management amended Bill 183 to Draft 2. The new text wasn't available when we checked, so the final numbers could change. DEM's timeline has first and final council readings in October and November 2026, with new rates starting January 1, 2027.
The higher fees won't pay to rebuild the plant. DEM says the money is for operations, maintenance and smaller repairs. Major plant overhauls stay in the county's separate Capital Improvement Program budget.
Why the monthly charge is catching up now
According to Civil Beat, most residents of Hawaiʻi Island aren't connected to county sewers. Even so, the county moved nearly $41 million from its general fund into the sewer fund between 2013 and 2025, and that general fund comes mostly from property taxes. Another $3.9 million or so was budgeted for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2026. County spokesperson Tom Callis told the outlet that in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, sewer charges covered about 54% of the wastewater division's budget. The division has 14,800 customers.
That means a Hilo homeowner with a cesspool has been helping pay for the sewer system through property taxes for more than a decade. Bill 183 is meant to end that. The county's rate study projects that the wastewater division will stop needing general-fund money by fiscal year 2031. Environmental Management Director Daniel Girvan explained the gap at a September council committee meeting, as Civil Beat reported: "What that really means is that for a very long time, we have been undercharging." The same story said the county is looking at a low-income assistance program.
The 2019 increase, the first in 17 years, was also supposed to end the transfers. They kept going. Getting sewer revenue to cover the system's real costs has taken years, and it still isn't done.
The cesspool house pays at the truck
An individual household cesspool doesn't come with a monthly county bill, but it still feeds into county charges. The Department of Health says cesspools and septic tanks have to be pumped regularly by registered pumpers and haulers. The county charges private haulers a discharge fee for every 500 gallons of septage and cesspool waste. Under the proposed schedule, that fee goes from $64 to $100 in 2027 and to $252 by 2031, close to four times today's rate. The sewered household's monthly fee goes up about two and a half times over the same years. We found no local hauler estimate of how much of the increase would show up on a homeowner's pump-out bill. Any of it that does will come from the fee that rises fastest on the whole schedule.
The bigger cost comes later. State law, HRS §342D-72, requires every cesspool that isn't exempt to be upgraded, converted to a Department of Health-approved system, or connected to sewer before January 1, 2050. Hawaiʻi Public Radio reported in July that one conversion was estimated at $25,000 to $50,000. There are about 49,000 cesspools on the island. To meet the deadline, the county would need to convert about 2,000 a year, a cost Chris Laude, acting division chief at the county's Department of Environmental Management, called "astronomical" in a September HPR report. That report also listed Hilo among the places where cesspool contamination may threaten drinking water or nearshore reefs.
The state has started a program to help. Governor Josh Green signed HB 1618 into law as Act 204 on July 8, 2026. The law sets up a revolving fund, run by the Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority, for low-interest or forgivable conversion loans, with preference for low- and moderate-income households. The authority's website still lists the program as in development, with no published opening date, loan limits or rates.
When the sewer reaches the lot
There's another way a cesspool house can change categories. County guidance says that once a public sewer is accessible to a property, the owner must connect at their own expense within 180 days of official notice. "Accessible" means a sewer lateral has been run to the lot, not that a main is within some set distance. DEM currently charges nothing to connect beyond the plumbing permit. The owner pays for everything else, hires a licensed contractor and arranges the inspection. On a low-lying lot, the owner may also need to install, run and maintain a private pumping station.
The plant those connections feed into is still under emergency management. It was built in 1994 and is the only major municipal treatment plant for South Hilo's sewered areas, handling wastewater from about 30,000 residents, businesses and visitors. A 2021 review by McGovern McDonald Engineers rated it "very poor to failing." The county signed an Administrative Order on Consent with the EPA in March 2024 and awarded Phase One of the rebuild to Nan, Inc. on December 20, 2024, with five years to finish. Mayor Kimo Alameda's tenth amended emergency proclamation was issued September 29, 2026, and took effect October 1. It ends automatically 60 days after issuance unless it's extended. On September 22, Hawaii News Now reported that an electrical failure the day before caused a bypass that sent about 71,000 gallons of partially treated, disinfected wastewater out through the Puhi Bay outfall. The county's project page lists a headworks milestone for October 2026 and gives no date yet for substantial completion.
Questions to settle for a specific Hilo address
- Does the property connect to county sewer, a gang cesspool, a septic system or an individual cesspool? DEM's system map or a records request can confirm it.
- If it uses a cesspool, has the seller mentioned an exemption, a conversion plan or any recent pumping records?
- Has a sewer lateral been run to the lot, and has the owner received a connection notice that starts the 180-day clock?
- Would a connection need a private pump station because of where the lot sits?
- What does Bill 183 look like after final reading, and does the final version change the residential or hauler fees?
A few questions we hear
Is the $125 monthly sewer fee final? No. It's the 2031 step in the schedule released for public review. The bill was amended on October 6, 2026, and still needs final council action.
Do higher sewer fees pay for the new Hilo plant? DEM says no. The fees cover operations, maintenance and smaller repairs. Major plant work is paid for separately through the Capital Improvement Program.
Can I apply for a state cesspool conversion loan yet? As of this writing, the Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority still lists the Act 204 program as in development.
At Millennium Realty, we treat wastewater as one of the first things to pin down on a Hilo property, before an offer is written. If you're weighing a house that's on a cesspool against one that's on county sewer, Contact Us and we'll help you track down the records for that address and go over what each schedule means for owning it over time.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
