CC - Agendas - City Council - REGULAR - 12/2/2014

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Agenda Item: Adoption of Ordinance Nos. 4917-1455 and 4918-1456 implementing revised water and wastewater utility rates and making related amendments to the Prescott City Code 11/4/14 Council Workshop Presentation by Raftelis Financial Consultants on the Utility Complete Rate Update. 11/6/14 Public meeting with Public Meeting#2 to present proposed rates and receive Complete customers comments. 11/18/14 Council Voting Meeting Public hearing on the proposed rates. Complete 12/2/14 Council Voting Meeting Following the public hearing, Council could adopt an ordinance setting adjusted water and wastewater rates. 1/1/15 New rates in effect Ordinance setting new rates effective not less than 30 days after adoption. A flyer was placed at Utility Billing (counter and drive through), Public Works, and Utility Operations informing customers of the dates/times of the various meetings. In addition, a media release, media articles, mailings to the top 40 water consumers, and the City's website was utilized to inform the public. Throughout this public process questions specific to the utility rates have been received. The questions and answers are summarized on the City's website (http://citvofprescott.net/utilitv-rate-settina.php). The Utility Rate Report included two (2) options for water rates; however, based on Council feedback, the rates within the Ordinances reflect Alternative 1. In addition to the publicly presented rate adjustments, there are several other related minor code amendments which are summarized as follows: Ordinance 4918-1456 (Water) • Section 1 - An increase to water service deposits to correspond to the increased rates. The rule of thumb is a deposit equal to two (2) months of bills. • Section 2 — An update or addition of various rate tables reflecting the proposed utility rates, and including the new aquifer protection fee. • Section 3 - A provision to allow the Finance Director and City Attorney to administratively write-off uncollectable accounts. Ordinance 4917-1455 (Wastewater and Effluent) • Section 1 —An update to the rate table reflecting the proposed utility rates. • Section 2 — Providing the basis for billing wastewater only accounts (i.e., no water service). Wastewater bills are presently based on winter water consumption. Without water service, there is no basis for billing wastewater. The code amendment utilizes an average of the customer classification (e.g., residential) to calculate a bill. • Section 2 - A requirement for private group lift stations to have a flow measuring device to accurately and fairly determine the wastewater flow generated in the private system. • Section 2 - A procedure and remedy for failure to timely pay monthly accounts with wastewater only. • Section 3 - A new rate table reflecting the proposed effluent rates. 2