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14. What rationale drove the city to keep its fixed revenue share to approximately 14%, even lowering the <br /> fixed charges for many customer classes?How do we reconcile it with much of the water costs (nearly <br /> 60%) being fixed? Wouldn't the fixed cost share even increase with its wells? <br /> 15. With its heavy reliance on variable consumption-based revenues, how does the city plan to recover its <br /> fixed costs if the stiff increases in inclining tiered pricing cause its high-usage customers to reduce <br /> consumption significantly? If the tariff structure does not change, will this not lead to further volumetric <br /> rate increases? Wouldn't this be equivalent to penalizing residential customers for water conservation— <br /> the opposite of what the city wants to achieve? <br /> 16. Has the city used its historical water consumption data to analyze conservation trends, price elasticity, <br /> etc.?Wouldn't a data-driven approach help facilitate more informed decision-making? <br /> 17. In adopting the tiered SFR variable tariffs to encourage water conservation, how does the city reward <br /> reduction in waste for other customer classes? Or has the city concluded via studies that there is no <br /> potential for water waste reduction in any segment other than SFR customers who use over 20 ccf? <br /> 18. Would the city be opposed to considering alternative approaches to encourage conservation that would <br /> appropriately reward all customers, irrespective of their class or current usage level? <br /> (For example, rebates towards a future bill if the current consumption is lower by a margin compared to <br /> the previous year's period.) <br /> 19. The city has emphasized the need to replenish Pleasanton Water Enterprise's declining reserve fund to <br /> improve its credit rating so that it would pay a lower interest rate if it borrows funds for capital <br /> expenses. However, that is different from the stated plan. Isn't this a temporary funding need that should <br /> be addressed by a temporary charge in water bills rather than bundled in regular permanent water rate <br /> increases?How is reducing fixed charges helpful in improving the stability of cash flows needed to <br /> improve debt financing or servicing? <br /> Would the city oppose considering alternative creative ways of boosting its reserves? <br /> (For example, incentivizing customers to pre-pay their budgeted fixed costs.) <br /> 20. Finally, is it a wasteful exercise to increase awareness of the cost structure of the city's water utility <br /> using a simple infographic like the one below, which shows where a customer's dollar in water bill <br /> goes?Infographics like the one below, by customer category, if they differ, for the current and future <br /> bills, would be much easier to follow rather than poring through and analyzing the 79-page Water <br /> Report to find answers to questions like the above. Do you disagree? <br /> 4 <br />