Policy - Policy for Charging Efland Sewer Customers with Wells

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Main Issue When the r-ate schedule was changed on July 1, 2009, the minimum charge became the base charge of $7.25 and did not include any sewer usage. Therefore, the sewer-only customers' bills went from $15.20 to $7.25 per month. On July 1, 2010, the base charge increased to _$10.16. After the BOCC approved the amendments to the Efland sewer resolution in November 2010, wfiich included the sewer-only customer billing .amendment, all of the Efland sewer customers were mailed a summary of the amendments adopted by the BOCC. This let#er included information on the upcoming change to the monthly bill for sewer-only customers. The first revised sewer bills for sewer-only cus#omers were mailed around January 20, 2011. The nQw bills for sewer-only customers, based on a usage ~f 5,000 gallons per month, were $54.26. Of the five sewer-only customers on the system, three either visited the Staff Engineer's office or called with concerns about-the high cost of the new bill and the basis for determining- the-amount of the bill. Since t#~at time the rates wer-e increased again on July 1, 2011. The current monthly rate for 5,000 gallons of sewer usage is $66.98. The main concern voiced by the sewer-only customers was that 5,000 gallons was far more than they believed they were actually using. Of the customers with whom the Staff Engineer spoke, two were families of two persons and one was a- family of three persons. These customers believed, based on anecdotal evidence from friends and neighbors whose water use is metered, that they were using less than 5,000 gallons per month and should not be charged for something they were not using. These customers were also concerned that their bill had risen so dramatically in such a short #ime. In addition, the customers represented that they had limited income and the increase of over $40 in their monthly bill would be difficult to pay. Is This Reasonable? There is data to suggest that the sewer-only customers who met with the Staff Engineer use less than the 5,000 gallons for which they are being billed. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did a significant study in 2002 on residential water use that suggests a range of water use between 40-60 gallons of water per person per day, with the lower end being applicable for rural communities whose water comes from wells. Given this, it would be reasonable to assume that a family of three in the Efland area on a well would use between 120 and 150 gallons of water per day, or 3,600 to 4,500 gallons per month. In addition, a study was performed by Orange County engineering staff in 1999-2000 which indicated an average residential water use in the Efland Area of 4,370 gallons per month. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a correlation between house size in heated square feet and water consumption. It was determined that there was approximately a 30% differential between the largest sized group of houses (over 1,800 square feet) and the smallest sized group of houses (under 900 square feet). A memo summarizing this study is provided at Attachment 2. Finally, in reviewing the data used to set the monthly bill at 5,000 gallons of usage, staff realized that although the average of all customer use from the 2007-2008 year was close to 5,000 gallons per month, the average residential use was less. Closer examination revealed that the average residential water use during that time period was closer to 4,200 gallons per month, which aligns more closely with the 1999-2000 study.