Printable VersionMaking sense of the Financial Feasibility Report for the Wastewater System may not be too easy for many, but it is necessary to give it a shot for residents to know where they stand with their sewer bills.
Director Gale Whittle said only some classifications would be changing.
The minimum rate for single-family residential, multi-family residential, condo, hotel/motel with restaurant, hotel/motel without restaurant and RV Parks is going to change.
The current minimum rates are $33 for single-family residential, $19.50 for multi-family residential and condo, $18 for hotels with a restaurant, $7.50 for hotels without a restaurant and $5.50 for RV Parks. In the order provided above each will either increase or decrease, with single-family residential going up to $36.50 per month, multi-family residential at $21, condos at $10.50, hotels with a restaurant at $20, hotels without a restaurant would be up to $9.50 and RV Parks would decrease to $4 a month.
It is in essence trying to level out the playing field; so smaller dwelling units are not paying the same amount as larger ones.
Let’s provide an example. The proposal for a condo is lowering the minimum rate bill to $10.50. This means that the amount of water a condo resident is allowed to use would lower to 161 cubic feet of water. Any additional water usage would incur a $6.53 charge, up from $5.93, per every 100 cubic feet of water used.
It is a proportion amount. If a condo user were to only use 83 feet more cubic feet of water a month, then they would divide $6.53 multiplied by .83. Whittle said the average household uses about 800 cubic feet of water a month, which is about 6,000 gallons of water.
“The amount of water they (condo residents) are allowed before it triggers the minimum bill is always going to be pretty constant, right around 160 cubic feet,” Whittle said.
In order to determine the base amount of water per cubic feet, a condo resident need only to divide $10.50 by $6.53. If the update to the plan goes through, it would begin April 1, 2009.
The plan hinges on development, sewer connections and change. Whittle said if there is an increase in development, rates could change again. For now, though, they are looking at a three-year plan.
The number of sewer connections has decreased dramatically in the past few years, due to the lack of development. When the initial plan was adopted in 2001, expectations for connections by 2012-13 were near 30,000. That number was amended with the 2007 plan update to 28,759 by 2013. The recent update now predicts the number of connections to be at 26,047.
The city is in the process of converting all properties with septic tanks over to sewers. The project is roughly 60 percent complete, according to Whittle. Whittle said they are in the process of finishing conversions in the San Juan, Hillside and Beverly Glen districts.
The quicker the project is complete, the better off the city will be, she said, especially considering the cost of construction inflation.
The city is currently accepting bids for the Havasupai District.
Nothing is set in stone; as the measure is due to go before the City Council again in November.
You may contact the reporter at twaggoner@havasunews.com.
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