HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Council Action Form dated April 11, 1995 r
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ITEM # AZ
DATE April 11, 1995
COUNCIL ACTION FORM
SUBJECT: REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 28 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING
TO WATER AND SEWER SERVICE AND BILLING CHARGES
BACKGROUND:
During the recent budget review, Council authorized an increase in the sewer use
minimum bill from $3.00/month to $5.50/month and dropped the 100 cubic feet/month
"allowance." This change increases monthly fees by $2.50/month up to a maximum
of $3.91/month. Sewer charges were last changed in 1992 when a sewer rate
decrease was approved in conjunction with the first water rate increase since 1978.
Council also approved a new minimum charge for yard meters which results in the first
monthly charges for yard meter installations since the program was initiated in 1985.
The yard meter minimum bill is$1.75/month for the smallest meter size and increases
for larger sized meters. This minimum bill was calculated following the same
approach used for water meter minimum bills.
As staff was preparing the ordinance revision to implement the above changes, two
other items of concern were noted. Staff has included recommended language in the
proposed ordinance to address the following concerns.
1. Customers usually start and/or stop their service accounts in the middle of a
billing period. Each time there is a change in the customer account, Finance
must conduct a special reading of the meter(s) at that location and print a bill
for that customer. This results in at least two, and many times three, bills for
each location in a single billing period. Each bill includes the minimum charge
regardless of how long the service may have been listed for each customer. It
is not unusual to collect $18-27 in minimum water and sewer charges in some
months for a single location. This is two or three times the normal minimum
monthly charge for that location. Finance has received complaints from
customers and landlords about this situation. Staff recommends prorating the
minimum monthly charge for initial and/or final bills, provided that a minimum
charge of at least$2.00/service is collected. The recommended$2.00 minimum
charge per service will recover the average cost of the special reading and
billing expenses instead of the multiple minimum charges now collected.
2. Access to the water meter/remote register location(s) is critical for routine meter
change-out and monthly meter reading purposes. Finance meter readers and
water meter serviceworkers normally can gain access to conduct their work
without undue effort or problems. However, there are a few customers who are
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either unwilling or unable to arrange access for city personnel to the
meter/remote register location(s) on their property. Both the Finance
Department and the Water Meter Division are faced with considerable extra
time, effort, and expense seeking to arrange access. It sometimes takes from
six to twelve months or more to finally gain access. This is a greater problem
for Finance because their access is necessary each month, while Water Meter
access varies from once each year to once every ten years. Staff is
recommending language which requires that access be made available within
four months from the first city request. Failure to arrange for access may result
in termination of service following notice and opportunity for a hearing by the
city manager.
ALTERNATIVES:
1. Adopt the proposed ordinance as presented.
2. Do not adopt the proposed ordinance.
3. Adopt a modified version of the proposed ordinance.
MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION:
It is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt Alternative
No. 1.
COUNCIL ACTION: