Title
2020 Preliminary Utility Rates and Operating Budgets
Recommended Action/UAC Deliverable:
Continue review of staff's recommended rates and GFCs for 2020.
Recommend Chair Buffo write a letter with budget and rate recommendations and concerns to the City Council on behalf of the Utility Advisory Committee. Council's Finance Committee plans to review Utility rates on October 16, 2019.
Report
Issue:
Review 2020 preliminary utility rates and operating budget, including Capital Facilities Plan and General Facility Charges (GFC). UAC will draft a recommendation letter to City Council Finance Committee's review on October 16, 2019. UAC will also forward their recommendations to the City Council their budget deliberations in December.
Staff Contact:
Gary Franks, Public Works Waste ReSources Director, 360.753.8780
Eric Christensen, Public Works Water Resources Director, 360.570.3741
Presenters:
Same as above
Background and Analysis:
The Utility Advisory Committee reviews City utility finances, capital investments, and rates annually. Staff briefed the UAC in June 2019 with a review of the draft Capital Facility Plan (CFP) and reviewed proposed 2020 budgets and rates on August 22nd and September 5th. City staff will continue the briefing on the 2020 budget and rate analysis at the UAC meeting on October 3, 2019.
As discussed in September, the proposed 2020 budgets generate rate changes for single family residences as follows:
Drinking Water 5.25%
Wastewater -2.00%
Storm and Surface 2.51%
Waste ReSources 2.30% (Option 2 presented in September)
LOTT 3.00%
Combined 2.48% or $6.42/month/single family account
Rates for non-single family accounts would be raised proportional to their current bills. These proposed rate changes are preliminary and could be changed by the City Council.
Key discretionary financial drivers for the proposed rate increase include:
* Increased funding for capital project construction (Drinking Water)
* One new employee, a...
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