05/13/1985 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e. e ~ " M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Dinner Session Eugene Conference Center May 1 3, 1 985 5:30 p.m. PRESENT: Cynthia Wooten, Debra Ehrman, Dick Hansen, Ruth Bascom, Freeman Holmer, Roger Rutan, Jeff Miller, Emily Schue, councilors; Mike Gleason, City Manager; Bob Deis, Susy Wagner, Finance; Christine Andersen, Bill Guenzler, George Jessie, Public Works; Dave Whitlow, City Manager1s Office; Barb Bellamy, Public Information Director; Kees Corssmit, CH2M Hill; Dick Briggs, Eugene Chamber of Commerce; Jim Boyd, Register-Guard. Ms. Wooten opened the meeting and introduced Mr. Guenzler, who presented an overvi ew of regi onal sani tary sewer rates and a user fee rate proposal. He said EWEB collects both regional and local rate money. The local funds are sent to the City of Eugene for maintenance of sewers, and the regional funds are forwarded to the City of Springfield. Of the $10.50, local rates account for $4.20, and regional rates are $6.30. Mr. Guenzler said the Springfield reserve fund totals $3.9 million, and the administrative expense related to the fund is charged to the sewer fund, but the charge is not for fund manage- ment, per see Mr. Hansen asked whether the surplus was related to the different rates for residential and other customers. Mr. Guenzler said the surplus was probably a result of making fewer expenditures than had been expected. Mr. Guenzler said local rates are set by each of the cities, depending on revenue necessary for sewer maintenance. Regional rates are studied and recommended by MWMC to city councils, which then pass ordinances on rates. Mr. Guenzler said councils are required by the MWMC agreement to pass rates no lower than those required by the commission. He also said MWMC usually bases its recommendations on customer characteristics, such as average flow. Mr. Guenzler discussed regional rates for treatment, which he said involve separate issues and actors than those for local rates. He said the process usually begins with a study of revenue requirements, followed by collecting the costs which are necessary to run the utility. Those are then allocated to flow, biological oxygen demand, and suspended solids, and an equation is developed based on a percentage of total expenses for each factor. Every customer is then charged according to those equations, with some measured by flow, and with single residential customers, for example, charged based on an average flow. Mr. Rutan asked what criteria were used to determine whether a business is given a flow-based or flat rate. Mr. Guenzler said every non- residential user has a measured flow rate, and he said the MWMC agreement MINUTES--City Council Dinner Session May 13, 1985 Page 1