14 - Laserfiche WebLink

THE CITY OF 14 L-E ASANTON© CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT June 1, 2010 City Manager TITLE: INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE APPROVING SEWER RATES AND AMENDING MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 15.20.180 TO PLACE SEWER FEES IN THE MASTER FEE SCHEDULE AND ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION APPROVING WATER RATES SUMMARY On April 6, 2010 the Council authorized staff to mail the Proposition 218 notice to the ratepayers regarding the proposed changes to the water and sewer rates and set the public hearing date for consideration of this matter by the City Council on June 1, 2010. In addition to mailing this notice to all ratepayers, staff also met with the Economic Vitality Committee of the City, the Economic Development and Government Relations Committee (EDGR Committee) of the Chamber of Commerce, held two public workshops on the proposed rate changes on May 6 and May 20 and met with several large water and sewer customers to discuss the impact of the proposed rate changes on their bills. Local water and sewer rates have not been adjusted since 2001. To ensure that both the water and sewer enterprises remain fiscally solvent and that appropriate reserves are in place to fund system maintenance and replacement obligations, staff is recommending effective August 1, 2010 for the average residential customer an average increase of $10.40 per bi- monthly period for water and no sewer rate increase. The following table demonstrates this recommendation for a residential customer who uses 40 Ccf (a Ccf is 100 cubic feet 748.05 gallons) of water per bi- monthly billing period (29,920 gallons of water over a 60 day billing period): AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL ACCOUNT BI- MONTHLY BILLING PERIOD (Based on (40Ccf)) Bi- monthly Monthly Current Bill Recommended Rates Difference Difference Sewer Local 21.70 21.70 Regional 38.91 38.91 Total 60.61 60.61 Water 82.70 93.10 Total $143.31 $153.71 $10.40 $5.20 RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends the Council hold the public hearing and accept the written protests, if any, to the rate changes. Assuming there are not more than 50% written protest to the rate changes, staff recommends the Council adopt by resolution the proposed changes in the water rates in the Master Fee Schedule to be effective August 1, 2010, introduce the ordinance approving the proposed changes in the sewer rates, and amend the municipal code to provide for the sewer rates to be set in the Master Fee Schedule. FINANCIAL STATEMENT The water and sewer funds are enterprise funds. The operations of these funds are 100% fee based and as such, the proposed rate increases if ultimately approved by the City Council will be borne by the water and sewer customers. The City is a customer of the utilities also and as such, will incur rate increases for the water and sewer services at City parks, government buildings including the police station, City Library and Fire Stations.