Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Some users may have seen their water/sewer bill go up following the council鈥檚 approval of a new utility rate model earlier this year.
CAO Bill Given explained the municipality expected the bill to go up by $50 per month鈥攐r $100 per two-month billing cycle鈥攆or the average residential consumer.
鈥淭hat was a pretty clear and explicit choice through the entire process,鈥� Given said.
鈥淭he intention of the model is really to create a more transparent system for people to be able to see and understand the types of charges that are being made and where that money is intended to go.鈥�
In the past, users were charged based solely on the consumption of water with a flat rate for that water.
The Connection, Capital and Consumption (CCC) model now has users billed based on three different factors: connection, capital and consumption.
The connection charge is meant to provide a base level of revenue for the utility.
鈥淚t helps account for those core services that are required, whether or not anyone turns on their taps,鈥� Given said.
鈥淔or example, the municipality needs to maintain staff for the front utility billing counter, and we need to have staff at the water treatment plant, and we need to test the fire hydrants.鈥�
The consumption charge is the cost of the water that is consumed and the wastewater expelled from the property in question, with large-volume consumers paying more.
鈥淎nd for most residential users, this cost per cubic metre has actually declined in 2022 under the new model, and so the idea of having a tiered-rate consumption model is there to encourage large-volume consumers to do what they can to reduce their consumption,鈥� Given said.
One complicating factor is that some properties use 鈥渂leeders鈥� that constantly drip water to prevent pipes from freezing in the winter, which could exaggerate the impact on their utility bills.
鈥淚f someone has a bleeder line, it will bump them up into the highest category of consumption, so they start to pay at a high consumption charge, at a higher rate,鈥� Given said.
鈥淭he municipality is aware of that, and those people who bleeder lines will receive a credit that will compensate it.鈥�
The municipality applies bleed credits at the end of April once all bleeders are turned off.
The adjustments will show on the March/April utility bill, and the credit will only apply during water bleed season from Nov. 1 to April 30.
The calculation for bleeder credits takes several days of work to complete, and therefore cannot be completed for each billing cycle, according to the municipality.
The capital charge, meanwhile, directly goes towards the costs of maintaining the physical infrastructure for the water and wastewater system.
A 2017 asset management study indicated that about $1.7 million needed to be invested in water and wastewater infrastructure each year.
鈥淥ver the past number of years, the annual investment in that area has been underfunded, and the strategy with the capital charge is to phase in over that five-year period to eventually meet that amount that was recommended back in 2017,鈥� Given said.
Commercial properties鈥攕pecifically, those with larger water meters鈥攑ay higher capital charges and higher connection charges than residential properties.
A review of the new utility rate model will be brought before council in the fall.
鈥淚t is a very fair comment to say that it鈥檚 a complex model, especially when you see it on your utility bill, because we have consumption charges, capital charges and capital charges for both water and wastewater,鈥� Given said.
鈥淭his is a good example of why you start up a system and with the explicit intention of adjusting and improving on an ongoing basis.鈥�
