HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 08-30 St. Paul water bills may soon rise to replace aging infrastructure PIONEER PRESS St.Paul water bills may soon rise to replace aging infrastructure-TwinCities.com Page 1 of 2
St. Paul water bills may soon rise to replace aging infrastructure
Updated:08/30/201401:10:04 PM CDT SEP -4 2014 TwinCities.com
Eager for funding to replace its aging 100-year-old infrastructure,St. Paul Regional Water
Services is proposing a significant increase to water rates,including a new water main
replacement surcharge.
If approved,a typical St.Paul homeowner would pay$45 more next year,for a total of about$310.
The new surcharge also applies to member cities where the utility owns water mains--Falcon
Heights,Lauderdale, Maplewood and West St. Paul.
Regional Water officials say the increases will help replace an additional 2.5 to 3 miles of water
main annually,on top of the typical eight to 10 miles.Overall,about 27 percent of the regional
water system is at least a century old, or older.
"We don't want to saddle future generations with expensive infrastructure improvements on a crisis
management basis,"said Matt Anfang,president of the Water Board of Commissioners."We want
to do it in a thoughtful process that methodically replaces infrastructure before failures and before
lack of reliability in the system."
The board of water commissioners will host a public hearing at 5 p.m.Tuesday at 1900 Rice St. If
they vote to uphold the water rate increase,the proposal then goes to the St.Paul City Council,
which will host its own public hearing.If approved,the new rates take effect Jan. 1.
St.Paul Regional Water charges homeowners a base fee,a water usage charge based on water
volume consumption,and the new water main replacement surcharge,which is also based on
consumption.
Unlike suburban customers,St. Paul residents pay an additional Right of Way Recovery fee of
$4.50 per quarter,which will stay flat in 2015.
Steve Schneider,general manager of the Regional Water Services,said some of the new funds
will help pay for improvements at the McCarrons Water Treatment plant in Maplewood,such as
new chemical storage facilities and electrical upgrades. Electrical costs and labor costs are also
going up,though the number of employees is not.
But water main replacement is the most pressing priority.
Schneider is hoping for more flexibility to partner with Xcel Energy, Ramsey County and other
public entities as they open up streets for utility improvements and roadwork. New funds will allow
the water utility to move crews around more easily and tackle multiple projects.
"Ramsey County comes up with their project list,which is just getting bigger and bigger,"
Schneider said."The board felt we needed to be able to be more flexible."
BASE FEE
http://www.twincities.com/News/ci_2643 3630/St-Paul-water-bills-may-soon-rise-to-replace-aging... 9/4/2014
St. Paul water bills may soon rise to replace aging infrastructure - TwinCities.com Page 2 of 2
For residential customers, the typical base fee is currently $36 per year, or $9 per quarter. Under
the new proposal, that would go up $12, for a total bill of $48 per year.
The typical homeowner uses 16,400 gallons, or 88 units, of water per year. Consumption rates
would go up 18 cents per billing unit, which averages a 7.53 percent increase between the winter
(billed at the rate of $2.52 per unit) and summer ($2.62 per unit). That's about a $16 increase.
In cities such as St. Paul, where the water main infrastructure is owned by St. Paul Regional Water
Services, customers are charged an additional 20 cents per unit. A typical residential property in
St. Paul uses 22 units of water per quarter, so the new water main replacement surcharge
amounts to $4.40 per quarter, or just under $18.
The water main replacement surcharge also applies to Falcon Heights, Maplewood, Lauderdale
and West St. Paul.
The expectation with most surcharges is that they go away once whatever project they're aimed at
funding has been completed, but given the constant need to replace water mains, it's unclear
when this particular surcharge would expire.
"That's a question that has yet to be determined," Schneider said. "Is it going to be just a year? No.
I assume it's going to be a number of years."
St. Paul residents pay an additional $4.50 per quarter for the Right of Way Recovery Fee, which
will stay the same in 2015. The fee, which has been in place since 2012, pays for buried
infrastructure owned by the water utility within the city right-of-way.
Frederick Melo can be reached at 651 -228-2172. Follow him at twitter.com/FrederickMelo.
http://www.twincities.com/News/ci_26433630/St-Paul-water-bills-may-soon-rise-to-replace-aging... 9/4/2014