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64 Discussion on Water Conservation Rates <br />65 In January, 2009 the City instituted a new water conservation -based rate structure designed to encourage <br />66 water conservation in conjunction with the goals and strategies outlined in the City's Imagine Roseville <br />67 2025 initiative, as well as a new State Law that required water service providers to encourage water <br />68 conservation. This law has since been amended and the City is no longer required to have conservation <br />69 rates as long as they can demonstrate that aggregate water use has declined due to other measures. <br />40 <br />41 The City created a 2- tiered rate structure that was designed to target excessive water usage as opposed to <br />42 the water used for everyday household needs. It is not unusual to see a 4 or 5 person household use 30,000 <br />43 gallons or more per quarter for general use such as personal hygiene, washing clothes and dishes, cooking, <br />44 etc. This is evidenced by evaluating a household's wintertime usage. In recognition of this, the rate <br />45 structure was designed to encourage conservation without unduly penalizing larger households for `normal' <br />46 water use. <br />47 <br />48 The current water rate structure is as follows: <br />4s <br />ir <br />Category <br />2012 Usage <br />Rate <br />SF Residential; Up to 30,000 gals./ qtr <br />$ 2.15 <br />SF Residential, Over 30,000 gals./qtr — winter rate * <br />2.40 <br />SF Residential, Over 30,000 gals./qtr — summer rate ** <br />2.65 <br />Non -SF Residential — winter rate <br />2.80 <br />Non -SF Residential— summer rate ** <br />$ 3.10 <br />50 <br />51 In an effort to gain a broad perspective on citywide household use, the following chart depicts the <br />52 percentage of single - family homes that fall into the current water rate categories based on usage over the <br />56 last 12 months and the 2- tiered rate structure. <br />54 <br />CURRENT <br />Water Rate Tier <br />Description <br />0 - 16,000 gallons per quarter <br />% of SF Homes: <br />Winter <br />16,000- 24,000 gallons per quarter <br />f SF Homes: <br />Summer <br />0- 30,000 gallons per quarter <br />90% 85% <br />Over 30,000 per quarter <br />10% 15% <br />Total <br />100% 100% <br />55 <br />56 As this table indicates, under the current water rate structure, l0- 15 %of single-family homes are impacted <br />57 by the higher rates. The Public Works, Environment, and Transportation Commission recently discussed <br />58 the City's water rate structure and conservation rates. The Commission is recommending that the City <br />59 move to a 3 -tier system to incorporate the following breakpoints: <br />60 <br />1 <br />Description <br />0 - 16,000 gallons per quarter <br />2 <br />73 <br />16,000- 24,000 gallons per quarter <br />Over 24,000 gallons per quarter <br />61 <br />62 The threshold of 16,000 gallons between tiers 1 and 2 is based on the current average usage in a single - <br />66 family home. The Commission further recommends that the rate structure be revenue neutral so that usage <br />64 rates at tiers 2 and 3 are sufficient to partially offset usage rates at the first tier. City Staff is comfortable in <br />65 moving to a 3- tiered system, however the aggregate data continues to suggest that single - family <br />66 homeowners are already successfully employing a variety of water conservation approaches. <br />67 <br />Page 2 of 2 <br />