05/13/1985 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e requirements, while requirements specify building for 100-year storms. He said planning money would get that started, and he added that another reason for the shift was to get away from property tax support in favor of user fees. Mr. Guenz1er said two methods besides the flow-based had been examined, but neither was as accurate or as easily implemented as flow-based. He said the recommendation would be to continue to allocate the entire pie based on sanitary sewer flow, and over the next two years, additional input would be provided. Ms. Bascom asked about measurement. Mr. Guenz1er said single-family dwellings would be measured for water flow in the winter and charged that sanitary rate all year. He said some cities had tried measuring runoff, but that was not administratively feasible, since EWEB does not keep that information. Mr. Hansen asked how long storm sewer charges had been included on water bills. Mr. Guenz1er said it had been done that way for as long as he knew of. Ms. Schue said if the residential flow base will become effective in the summer of 1986, publicity should begin in about the fall of 1985, so that residents know they will be setting household standards during the winter of 1985. e Mr. Guenzler said the Portland area has a basic single family charge of $7.70, plus a fairly complex system for industrial customers. Portland also has a separate charge for storm sewers. He said Sa1emls charge is $10.30. Mr. Gleason said he had talked with Mark Gardner, an administrator in Portland, who had pointed out that their treatment standards are different and the full overhead is not distributed, rather a utility tax and a business and occupation tax help to cover overhead. Ms. Ehrman asked whether EWEB costs were expected to increase with the flow-based charges. Mr. Guenz1er said there may be some one-time expenses, but the only other administrative costs would be for City staff assistance with customers' bills. Ms. Wooten said a public hearing on regional rates as proposed by MWMC would be held on May 20. The council recommendation would then be made to staff to draft the ordinance implementing the rates. The local rate portion was to be considered at the same time. Mr. Hansen asked what would happen if street sweeping were not included in the rate. Mr. Gleason said it would affect the amount of cuts needed to balance the budget and would aggravate the issue. Mr. Hansen said he did not want to include the street sweeping costs as he did not feel they were related to sewers or to water flow. Ms. Bascom said she felt there was a logical connection, as leaves not swept up off the streets could clog the sewers, which had happened in her neighborhood. Ms. Wooten said leaf pick-up already was included in sewer fees. e MINUTES--City Council Dinner Session May 13, 1985 Page 6