By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Water rate tiers were adopted by Nephi, but without a rate attached to any of the tiers as yet. The council conducted a work session on October 30 to look at a water rate model that had been developed by the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC). “In that rate model the rate structure was also discussed,” said Seth Atkinson, city administrator. Currently the city charges a static rate per 1,000 gallons of water regardless of the number of gallons used. The current rate structure also charges based on customer type (e.g. residential, commercial, and industrial), he said. “The State of Utah is requiring cities to adopt a tiered rate structure with higher fees for increased water use,” said Atkinson. He said that the rate model proposed at the work session broke down the water usage tiers in the following w, based on number of gallons: 0 to 5,000; 5,001 to 10,000; 10,001 to 15,000; 15,001 to 20,000; 20,001 to 50,000; 50,001 to 1,000,000; 1,000,001 to 5,000,000; and 5,000,001 to 9,999,999. “The rate model also recommended that rates be structured toward meter size rather than customer type,” said Atkinson. “This is a more equitable way to charge customers and is based on their water needs rather than the category to which they belong.” Base rates would then be dependent on the meter size which equates to the potential water that can be delivered through that connection. “The current proposals are made according to the ability of a customer to extract water,” said Atkinson. Most residential uses would be at a three-quarter inch or one-inch size. Some commercial sizes would be between one-inch to two-inch. Industrial uses would be roughly four-inches or greater. “The staff is seeking direction to determine if these two recommendations from the water rate study will be acceptable,” said Atkinson. Actual rates from the rate model will be proposed to the city council at the meeting on November 21. “Tonight all that you need to do as a council is adopt the tiers so we can tell the state that we have adopted tiers,” said Atkinson. “We can demonstrate that we have tiers.” “We can plug rates into the tiers later,” said Mark Jones, mayor. Nathan Memmott, council member, said that it would be good to know who had secondary (outdoor) water and who did not. One-third of the community is not connected to the Nephi Irrigation Company Secondary Water line. “I am not aware of who would keep those records,” said Atkinson. Perhaps the irrigation company would have those records. They would know who their customers were but would have no way of knowing how much water a connection used. What would be the difference in use between a residential home not connected to secondary water and a residential home connected to secondary water? As everyone knows, the average home uses less water in the winter and more in the summer. However, how much depends on lot size and the type of plantings on the lot. The towns of about the same size as Nephi that the city council had looked at, said Kent Park, city council member, were all about the same when it came to usage. Residential water service customers currently pay a $7.50 per month customer charge. Therefore, the bill for a customer using 5,000 gallons a month using current charges is $10.50 per month for a customer paying the customer rate plus the 60-cents per 1,000 gallons if 5,000 gallons is used. “Think about the price for a bottle of water,” said Greg Rowley, council member. It is more for a bottle of water at the market than for 1,000 gallons of city water usage at the current rate. To provide a lawn with one inch of water takes a little over half a gallon per square foot (0.623 gallon to be more exact). That means that every 10-foot by 10-foot area will require over 62 gallons of water per watering. Children in a home will cause a residential use to increase, on average. “Having kids does make a difference,” said Atkinson. Mayor Mark Jones, said that the city council needed to discuss and determine plug in rates for the various tiers. Atkinson said his recommendation was that the council provide direction to the staff on the water rate tiers as well as the rate structure for meter size. However, said Memott, the city could always make adjustments if there were problems. “By law we have to have the tiers,” he said.4>
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