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400 <br />program for the CIP, Mr. Miller admitted Roseville water rates were high, a fact <br />401 <br />that had not been hidden from its customers. <br />402 <br />403 <br />However, in reviewing sanitary sewer comparisons, Mr. Miller noted that the City <br />404 <br />of Roseville trended lower than many peer communities; which again could be due <br />405 <br />to different funding philosophies as well as personnel costs. <br />406 <br />407 By combining water and sewer fees for comparison, Mr. Miller noted that the City <br />408 of Roseville was again at the top of the peer group, which he didn't find surprising. <br />409 However, to put that in more context, Mr. Miller vise that the current City <br />410 Council's philosophy was to capture direct cos ervices, as well as indirect <br />411 costs incorporated to get a true utility cost, whi ny other cities didn't do. <br />412 <br />413 At the request of Member Wozniak, Mr. iller ified "indirect costs" as <br />414 including administrative overhead, such as his service to customers not considered <br />415 direct but indirect. With all of his time paid for by the General Fund, Mr. Miller <br />416 advised that each utility fund was indirectly charged for some of his time — and <br />417 other employees as applicable — for the time spent and those costs captured. Mr. <br />418 Miller noted other examples of indirect costs included a proportirs <br />al cost of <br />419 worker's compensation and other insurance. Mr. Miller noted this w"'part of the <br />420 different philosophies at play among communities and how Roseville chose to <br />421 allocate administration of various funds, services and programs. <br />422 <br />423 In his final comparison chart with peer communities, ������OI iller provided the total <br />424 impact of property taxes and utility rates for a typical single-family home over a <br />425 broader spectrum of needs and funding philosophies. With that comparison, Mr. <br />426 Miller noted that Roseville had one of the lowest financial impacts for residents of <br />427Ct�axes <br />mparison group, approximately 13% below the peer average. As a caveat, <br />428 iller again noted the other factors and local preferences defining property <br />429 and utility rates. <br />430 <br />431 request of Membe Wozniak as to how to explain that comparison, Mr. <br />432 Miller responded that it involved a number of things. First and foremost, Mr. Miller <br />433 opined the City should be proud of its tax base that the community had worked hard <br />434 to achieve, which helped with property taxes, with many communities with a larger <br />435 tax base having the ability to shoulder their tax burden and stave off any impact for <br />436 residents. Mr. Miller noted that funding philosophy again makes a difference, and <br />437 clarified that his comparisons were showing residential not commercial rates; with <br />438 many communities choosing to shove costs onto commercial customers to make <br />439 rate structures look better. However, Mr. Miller noted it was obvious from these <br />440 charts those different funding philosophies, and Roseville choosing to be more <br />441 upfront about it, even though commercial/retail customers of Roseville's water and <br />442 sewer utilities still pay double residential customers. <br />443 <br />444 With Member Lenz referencing the comparisons rates for Edina, Mr. Miller <br />445 responded that they probably had less balance in residential and commercial <br />Page 10 of 18 <br />