Customers told KTVU they first got a glossy card in the mail that touted the sewer district's low rates. Now they feel the cards were a set up for an increase as officials propose doubling what Marin customers were being charged.

"I feel burned, " says Ford Greene of San Anselmo, " I feel like my money's being spent on glossy mailers."

Customers could see their annual sewer fee shoot from about $500 to $900 on top of the $200 tacked onto their property taxes.

In the city of Larkspur where there is a smaller tax assessment, rates could top $1,000 a year.

That raises the ire of Larkspur resident Ed Bibbler.

"You have 32 employees, which is three times what any other district this size has," said Bibbler.

Sceptics said Ross Valley doesn't need to hire 11 more employees, a move recommended by staff to speed replacement of an old, collapsing pipe system.

"It's going to be your disaster in thirty years -- when I'm long gone -- and the pipes fail," said sanitation board director Peter William Sullivan.

Ross Valley has a history of spills. This past December, more than a million gallons of raw sewage ran into Corte Madera Creek and local roads.

Critics also pointed to some $5 million paid in a settlement, when this property the district sold turned out to be too contaminated to develop.

In the end, the board backed off on sending rate hike notices until it re-examines the numbers.

"We're still in a recession, and people are hurting, adding these kinds of costs right now is not the way to go," said sanitation board director Frank Egger.

The board plans to take up the issue again on May 3rd.