Turner Valley council has given a first nod to its new utility rate bylaw.
The rates bylaw received first reading on Dec. 2 and will come back to council on Dec. 16, with a few additions for consideration.
Coun. John Waring requested an option of a three-tiered billing system be brought back to compare to the proposed five-tier program after Coun. Cindy Holladay suggested taking a look at the way Okotoks operates its billing for water.
“They’re three tier, and they’re substantially different,” said Holladay. “Ours is only five cents, so it seems kind of a waste of time for a five-cent difference to have five tiers.”
She was citing the prices for the Town of Okotoks water billing, which charges $1.55 for use of up to 23 cubic metres of water, then $1.90 for between 24 to 68 cubic metres and $2.65 per cubic metre usage higher than 68 cubic metres.
In Turner Valley, the proposed utility rate bylaw suggests $1.93 for up to 10 cubic metres, $1.95 for 10.01 to 20 cubic metres, $1.97 for 20.01 to 30 cubic metres, $1.99 for 30.01 to 45 cubic metres, and $2 for more than 45 cubic metres of use.
Holladay said she’d prefer to see fewer tiers and more substantial increases to promote saving water.
“I think that actually would make a noticeable difference on conservation,” she said. “It is something I am interested in talking about so that we can encourage conservation with the dollars and cents, rather than coming up with big rules and a moderate conservation bylaw.”
Rick Wiljamaa, senior project engineer with MPE Engineering, the consultant on the bylaw development, said although it looks different, a five-tier system still works the same way.
“You will pay the lowest rate for a portion of that consumption and then you jump to the next rate for any portion over that,” he said. “As much as those jumps appear significant in Okotoks, if you’re just over the cusp you’re not really paying a significant amount more.
“It’s honestly the same in your bylaw here.”
According to 2018 numbers, about 14 per cent of households are billed at the lowest tier, he said. About 35 per cent are in tier two, 27 per cent fall in tier three, 18 per cent in tier four and six per cent of homes are billed at tier five rates.
He said in any tiered system, the psychological game works to convince people they need to be in the lowest tier in order to pay less. The result is conservation, he said.
Other changes to the utility rate bylaw are to add storm-water rates, remove extraneous categories and establish a stabilization fund for ongoing repairs and maintenance, he said.
“If a pipe bursts in the middle of winter, you have a small pool of money to mobilize forces to fix that right away rather than having to go to council and ask for a special budget item,” said Wiljamaa.
The Town sits on about $35.2 million in utility infrastructure assets that will need to be maintained and replaced over time, he said. Having a reserve fund built should provide the municipality about $476,000 to work with.
It’s good to have funds for a rainy day, especially since some concerns with infrastructure were raised during the research for the new utility rate bylaw, he said.
On the water consumption side, MPE Engineering found the Town was losing about 21.39 per cent of the water it was receiving from the Sheep River Regional Utility Corporation (SRRUC).
“It’s a significant amount of water, and this likely indicates there is a significant leak in your system,” said Wiljamaa.
The wastewater flow from the Town of Turner Valley was also concerning, he said. According to the numbers from SRRUC and the Westend Regional Sewage Services Commission, the Town puts out 135 per cent more than it consumes.
“Wastewater, generally where you want to be is at about 85 per cent of what your water use is in wastewater production, so you’re very far from that,” said Wiljamaa. “You’re 50 per cent off. That’s a big number to deal with.”
He said a difference like that could indicate infiltration from groundwater or storm-water, which could result in leaks, or sump pumps connected to the wastewater system.
Fixing both issues could result in a reduction of rates to residents and business owners, he said.
Overall he said the new utility rate shouldn’t have a huge impact on end users. Wiljamaa said the estimated increase for average residential bills would be 5.3 per cent, and the increase for commercial would be 4.7 per cent.
This is due to a change in calculation of the base rate, which now takes into account the storm-water service and value of all Town utility assets, he said.
The fixed rate is $69.51 per billing period, with $25.67 for water, $33.79 for wastewater and $10.05 for storm-water, he said.
“The proposed bylaw will create a more equitable system for the Turner Valley community,” said Wiljamaa.
Mayor Barry Crane was pleased with the proposed bylaw and how the rates and fees were broken down.
“It’s fantastic,” said Crane. “It’s nice to see the clarity and the simple numbers to it. It’s been a long time we’ve wanted to see this broken down.”
