City OKs water and sewer bill plan
Posted By Bob Bruton
Posted 22 days ago
Conservation, rather than cash, should continue to be the focus of how Barrie calculates its water and sewer bills.
City councillors gave initial approval Monday to a five-year plan to phase-in a new rate structure, and to review it in early 2011.
The new structure is also to simplify the billing process for homeowners and business.
"We have a confusing dog's breakfast of rates and structures that it is almost impossible for anybody to understand," said Coun. Jeff Lehman.
"This is much, much simpler. And there is still an incentive for conservation."
The city's current residential rate structure has monthly fixed charges and four consumption thresholds, with costs rising as consumption increases.
Non-residential customers also have monthly fixed charges now, based on water line size, then two consumption thresholds.
But this current rate structure results in the city recovering 26% of the water service's fixed costs, and 24% of the sewer costs.
Ed Archer, Barrie's general manager of corporate services, says the city relies too much on volume charges to recover its needed revenues.
The new rate structure was to allow the city to recover 34% of the revenue needed by 2012. Lehman's motion moves that back two more years.
While the new rate structure addresses the city's fiscal concerns - paying for the operation of the water/sewer service, putting aside money for future capital expenses - there were still concerns that it doesn't adequately reward low consumption in Barrie homes.
"This seems to be moving away from our conservation effort," said Coun. Lynn Strachan. "I don't want to lose that. We have seen water consumption decrease and that is a good thing.
"The thing I don't like seeing is we will not promote conservation because we need the money for infrastructure."
Archer says conservation is not being sacrificed.
"I understand the concern, but in reality we are not," he said.
Coun. Mike Ramsay said the forecasted increases, and those from the past few years, are too high.
"We ask people to conserve, they cut back and they have to pay more," he said. "Increases of 30% in the last three years, that's a lot of money."
The new rate structure likely means homeowners will see higher annual bills, although industry and business could get a break - depending on what council decides at budget time.
It could mean 11% increases in water rates and 16% increases in sewer rates, right across the board, next year.
Under existing water/sewer rates, the average residential customer using 250 cubic metres will pay $564 this year. If the rate structure doesn't change, this user would pay an extra $77 next year, or $641, an increase of 13.6%.
Under the rate structure recommended by city staff, this same user would pay another $65, or $630, in 2010, a hike of 11.6%.
Lehman's motion only alters these figures by a dollar or two.
Archer says the city's water/sewer rates need to do some catching up.
"On average, water rates in Barrie are 20% lower than in municipalities of similar size," he said.
The mandate from council is to develop a water and sewer rate structure strategy which would meet full cost recovery.
"Water and wastewater rates are expected to be self-funding," said Archer. "We never make a profit on water. We earn what we need to make the business run."
bbruton@thebarrieexaminer.com
