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Mr. Miller noted that they did impact rates. During this infrastructure sustainability <br />program for the CIP, Mr. Miller admitted Roseville water rates were high, a fact <br />that had not been hidden from its customers. <br />However, in reviewing sanitary sewer comparisons, Mr. Miller noted that the City <br />of Roseville trended lower than many peer communities; which again could be due <br />to different funding philosophies as well as personnel costs. <br />By combining water and sewer fees for comparison, Mr. Miller noted that the City <br />of Roseville was again at the top of the peer group, which he didn't find surprising. <br />However, to put that in more context, Mr. Miller advised that the current City <br />Council's philosophy was to capture direct costs for services, as well as indirect <br />costs incorporated to get a true utility cost, which many other cities didn't do. <br />At the request of Member Wozniak, Mr. Miller clarified "indirect costs" as <br />including administrative overhead, such as his service to customers not considered <br />direct but indirect. With all of his time paid for by the General Fund, Mr. Miller <br />advised that each utility fund was indirectly charged for some of his time — and <br />other employees as applicable — for the time spent and those costs captured. Mr. <br />Miller noted other examples of indirect costs included a proportional cost of <br />worker's compensation and other insurance. Mr. Miller noted this was part of the <br />different philosophies at play among communities and how Roseville chose to <br />allocate administration of various funds, services and programs. <br />In his final comparison chart with peer communities, Mr. Miller provided the total <br />impact of property taxes and utility rates for a typical single-family home over a <br />broader spectrum of needs and funding philosophies. With that comparison, Mr. <br />Miller noted that Roseville had one of the lowest financial impacts for residents of <br />the comparison group, approximately 13% below the peer average. As a caveat, <br />Mr. Miller again noted the other factors and local preferences defining property <br />taxes and utility rates. <br />At the request of Member Wozniak as to how to explain that comparison, Mr. <br />Miller responded that it involved a number of things. First and foremost, Mr. Miller <br />opined the City should be proud of its tax base that the community had worked hard <br />to achieve, which helped with property taxes, with many communities with a larger <br />tax base having the ability to shoulder their tax burden and stave off any impact for <br />residents. Mr. Miller noted that funding philosophy again makes a difference, and <br />clarified that his comparisons were showing residential not commercial rates; with <br />many communities choosing to shove costs onto commercial customers to make <br />rate structures look better. However, Mr. Miller noted it was obvious from these <br />charts those different funding philosophies, and Roseville choosing to be more <br />upfront about it, even though commercial/retail customers of Roseville's water and <br />sewer utilities still pay double residential customers. <br />Page 10 of 18 <br />