2016-11-29_PWETC_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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35 Ayes:5 36 Nays:0 37 Motion carried. 38 39 4. Communication Items 40 Assistant Public Works Director Freihammer provided additional comments and a 41 brief review and update on projects and maintenance activities listed in the staff 42 report dated October 25, 2016. 43 44 Discussion included projected date for presentation of the latest solar installation 45 update to the City Council; and preparation by the Public Works crew of snow 46 vehicles and personnel training on that equipment in the next few weeks. 47 48 5. Proposed 2017 Utility Rates 49 Finance Director Chris Miller presented the proposed 2017 utility rates, to be 50 presented to the City Council in November for their consideration and approval. 51 Mr. Miller noted that utility funds are considered "Enterprise Funds" and therefore 52 restricted to funding those respective utilities. Mr. Miller advised that utility rates 53 are reviewed annually and set to sustain the operations and capital needs of each. 54 55 Finance Director Miller outlined staff recommendations for those 2017 rates in a 56 memorandum dated October 15, 2016 entitled "2017 Utility Rate Review & 57 Recommendation (Attachment A); and sought feedback from the PWETC. 58 59 Chair Cihacek noted the City of Roseville differed compared to the practices of 60 most other communities in that its base rates for water and sewer were the only 61 funding source used, with no assessments to property owners to maintain that 62 infrastructure. 63 64 Member Lenz clarified that meant that the city's rates were not the same as actual 65 costs, with other cities having similar costs, but recovering them through different 66 means. 67 68 Finance Director Miller concurred; noting that all metropolitan cities pay the same 69 amount to the Metropolitan Council for sanitary sewer services annually on an 70 equitable basis; with water usage based on the cost of purchasing wholesale water 71 projected by the St. Paul Regional Water System (SPRW S) for the upcoming year. 72 Mr. Miller noted base fees covered fixed costs while usage fees covered variable 73 costs. The definitions of those costs were detailed in Mr. Miller's operational 74 review, as well as other determining factors including capital replacement needs 75 and customer counts, consumptions patterns, and rate structures. Mr. Miller also 76 noted the city was subject to the rate increases applied by the Metropolitan Council 77 and SPRWS with limited negotiations available for the city to impact those annual 78 percentage changes. 79 Page 2 of 20