Explanation
SANITARY 2012
BACKGROUND
This ordinance authorizes an increase in sewer rates effective January 1, 2012 for the Division of Sewerage and Drainage.
The proposed rate configuration for 2012 recognizes that water and sewer charges disproportionately affect lower income groups and continues the Low Income Discount program that discounts participant's sewer commodity portion of their sewer bill by 20%.
Requested adjustments in rates result in a typical inside city residential sanitary sewer rate increase of 3%. When a water increase of 8% and a Stormwater decrease of 2% are considered the overall impact on a typical residential customer in the City of Columbus is 4.69% and for an outside city residential customer 5.38%.
In 2005, in Ordinance No.1904-2005, Passed November 28, 2005, Council created a Clean River Fee to recover costs of construction of projects necessary to meet the requirements of the two consent orders that mandate elimination of wet weather flow from Combined Sewer Overflows and Sanitary Sewer Overflows. This charge was assessed based on each property's measured impervious surface area. Since 2005, Council has approved across-the-board rate increases, including the Clean River Fee. In doing so, the Clean River Fee was not calibrated to pay for all wet weather construction costs. The Department of Public Utilities, with approval of SWAB, recommends that the Clean River Fee again be increased with an across-the-board rate increase. This will continue to allow wet weather construction projects to be paid for by a blend of the Clean Water Fee, based on ERU, and commodity charges.
The Division of Sewerage and Drainage charges industrial companies and extra strength charge. Extra strength charges are for the treatment of high strength wastewater generated by various industries that require additional treatment processes within the wastewater treatment plants. To address higher than normal extra strength charges and to sta...
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