(A) Basis for wastewater service charges. The wastewater service charge for the use of and for service supplied by the wastewater facilities of the city shall consist of a basic user charge for operation and maintenance plus replacement, applicable surcharges and local capital cost charge composed of a debt service charge and a capital improvement charge.
(1) Debt service charge. The debt service charge is computed by dividing the annual debt service of all outstanding bonds by the number of users. Through further divisions, the monthly and/or quarterly debt service charges can be computed.
(2) Capital improvement charge. The capital improvement charge is levied on all users to provide for capital improvements, extensions or reconstruction of the sewage treatment works. The capital improvement is computed by apportioning the annual amount to be accrued as a cost per 100 cubic feet or as a fixed charge per month.
(3) Basic user charge.
(a) The basic user charge shall be based on water usage as recorded by water meters and/or sewage meters for wastes having the following normal domestic concentrations:
1. A 5-day, 20-degree centigrade biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of 200 mg/l;
2. A suspended solids (SS) content of 250 mg/l.
(b) It shall consist of operation and maintenance costs plus replacement and shall be computed as follows:
1. Estimate wastewater volume, pounds of SS and pounds of BOD to be treated;
2. Estimate the projected annual revenue required to operate and maintain the wastewater facilities including a replacement fund for the year, for all works categories;
3. Proportion the estimated OM&R costs to each user class by volume, suspended solids and BOD;
4. Proportion the estimated operation, maintenance and replacement (OM&R) costs to wastewater facility categories by volume, suspended solids and BOD;
5. Compute costs per 100 cubic feet for normal sewage strength;
6. Compute surcharge costs per pound per 100 cubic feet in excess of normal sewage strength for BOD and SS.
(4) Surcharge. A surcharge will be levied to all users whose waters exceed the normal domestic concentrations of BOD (200 mg/l) and SS (250 mg/l). The surcharge will be based on water usage as recorded by water meters and/or sewage meters for all wastes which exceed the 200 mg/l and 250 mg/l concentration for BOD and SS respectively. Division (F) below of this section specifies the procedure to compute a surcharge.
(5) Review of charges. The adequacy of the wastewater service charge shall be reviewed, not less often than annually, by certified public accountants for the city in their annual audit report. The wastewater service charge shall be revised periodically to reflect a change in local capital costs or a change in operation and maintenance costs including replacement costs.
(6) Notification of users. The users of wastewater treatment services will be notified annually, in conjunction with a regular bill, of the rate and that portion of the user charges which are attributable to the wastewater treatment operation, maintenance and replacement.
(B) Measurement of flow. The volume of flow used for computing basic user charges and surcharges shall be the metered water consumption read to the lowest even increments of 100 cubic feet.
(1) If the person discharging wastes into the public sewers procures any part, or all, of his or her water from sources other than the Public Waterworks System, all or a part of which is discharged into the public sewers, the person shall install and maintain, at his or her expense, water meters of a type approved by the Superintendent of Public Works for the purpose of determining the volume of water obtained from these other sources.
(2) Devices for measuring the volume of waste discharged may be required by the Superintendent of Public Works if these volumes cannot otherwise be determined from the metered water consumption records.
(3) Metering devices for determining the volume of waste shall be installed, owned, and maintained by the person. Following approval and installation, such meters may not be removed, unless service is canceled, without the consent of the Superintendent of Public Works.
(C) Local capital cost charge. Debt service charge: A debt service charge of $3.84 per month to each user of the wastewater facility of the city is hereby established.
(D) User rates. User rate minimum charges, incremental user rate charges, and sewer maintenance fees to be applied on a monthly basis are hereby amended and provided to be as follows:
Rate Component | 2/1/2019 - 1/31/2020 | 2/1/2020 - 1/31/2021 | 2/1/2021 - 1/31/2022 | |||
Minimum base fee on first 200 cf of water used | $17.00 | $18.00 | $19.00 | |||
Usage charge per 100 cf applied to usage over 200 cf | $3.75 | $4.00 | $4.00 | |||
Sewer rate | $17.00 | $18.00 | $19.00 | |||
Sewer maintenance | $7.50 | $7.50 | $8.00 | |||
Sewer charge per 100 cr of water used | $5.00 | $5.25 | $5.75 |
(1) All rates shown in reference to maintenance fees and incremental user rate sewer charges as set forth herein, with the exception of the base fee and the sewer maintenance fee, shall be in dollars per 100 cubic feet. Additionally, the total charge for each metered user shall be the sum of (1) the base fee, plus (2) the increment of usage of water over 200 cubic feet per month as provided herein multiplied by its corresponding rate, plus (3) base fee, and the sewer maintenance fee.
(2) The adequacy of the wastewater service charges shall be reviewed annually periodically by the City Council and revised as deemed within the discretion of the City Council to be appropriate order to reflect changes in operation, maintenance costs, necessary infrastructure improvements and advancements and/or governmental directives and or state and/or federal directives and/or mandates, amongst other appropriate basis for revision or rates.
(3) Also, any non-metered residential users of the wastewater facilities shall pay a minimum flat rate charge per month equal to the base charge, plus the sewer maintenance fee for each month, which will thus allow such non-metered users a maximum of 200 cubic feet per month.
(4) In the event that within the sole discretion of the Superintendent of Public Works of the city it is determined that it is reasonably estimated that the non-metered usage of any residential user is in excess of 200 cubic feet per month, the Superintendent of Public Works may require such flat rate non-metered residential user to install metering devices on the water supply and/or sewer main ti measure the amount of service supplied.
(5) Additionally, for users of over 500,000 cubic feet per month, the city reserves the right to negotiate individually with such large users with it understood that any such negotiation shall not affect the discretion of the city to revise rates even without agreement of any such large user.
(6) The city reserves the right, duty and responsibility to review and revise the sewer rates if deemed appropriate with the discretion of the City Council. In connection with any such review, the City Council may utilize any appropriate resource tool including, but not limited to, sewer rate studies. Any amendment and/or revision hereof shall be by ordinance.
(E) Surcharge rate. The rates of surcharges for BOD5 and SS shall be as follows:
Per lb. of BOD: $.405
Per lb. of SS: $.154
(F) Computation of surcharge. The concentration of wastes used for computing surcharges shall be established by waste sampling. Waste sampling shall be performed as often as may be deemed necessary by the Superintendent of Public Works and shall be binding as a basic for surcharges.
(G) Computation of wastewater service charge. The wastewater service charge shall be computed by the following formula:
CW = CC + CD + CM + (Vu-X) CU + CS
Where
CW = Amount of waste service charge ($) per billing period
CD = Debt Service Charge (division (C)).
CC = Capital Improvement Charge.
CM = Minimum Charge for Operation, Maintenance and Replacement (division (D)).
Vu = Wastewater Volume for the billing period.
X = Allowable consumption in gallons for the minimum charge (division (D)).
CU = Basic User Rate for Operation, Maintenance and Replacement (division (D)).
CS = Amount of Surcharge (divisions (E) and (F)).
(Ord. 923, passed 12-12-1977; Ord. 924, passed 12-12-1977; Ord. 1082, passed 5-6-1985; Ord. 1200, passed 4-3-1989; Am. Ord. 1424, passed 7-6-1993; Am. Ord. 1756, passed 1-21-2002; Am. Ord. 2189, passed 9-8-2009; Am. Ord. 2326, passed 1-23-2012; Am. Ord. 2799, passed 2-4-2019)