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Budget Policy and Goal

 

MCES Rate Policy

Rates and Charges Policy

The Council will design and adopt fees and charges using a regional cost of service basis:

• Municipal wastewater charges will be allocated to communities uniformly, based on flow.
• Industrial wastewater strength and load charge rates will each be uniform, and proportionate to the volume and strength of discharges.
• Load charges for septage, portable toilet waste, holding tank wastewater and out of region wastes will be uniform for each type of load, and based on the volume of the load and the average strength of the types of loads.
• Service Availability Charges (SAC) will be uniform within the urban service area of the region. SAC for a Rural Growth Center where a treatment facility is owned by the Council will be based on the reserve capacity of the plant and the Council's debt service specific to the Center. SAC for a Rural Growth Center where interceptor facility(s) are owned by the Council will be the urban SAC charge plus a charge based on the reserve capacity of the specific interceptor(s) and the Council's debt service specific to the Center.

The Council will seek customer input prior to, and give at least three months notice of, any material changes in the design of fees and charges.

The Council will maintain wastewater rates for MCES that enable the division to:

• Meet wastewater regulatory requirements;
• Implement MCES infrastructure rehabilitation and repair needs;
• and Provide wastewater capacity for growth consistent with the Council's 2030 Regional Development Framework.

 

Rates

MCES has met and exceeded the guidelines of the rate policy by operating all treatment plants within permit standards, maintaining infrastructure in good repair, and sustaining water quality while providing customers with predictable, moderate rates. In 2006, municipal wastewater charges are equal to what they were in 1997 (see chart below).

Retail Rates:

In 2005, the regional average retail residential sewer rate per household in the Twin Cities for wastewater treatment was $192. That yearly rate, compared to rates in similar-sized districts, is below the national average. In a National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) 2005 survey, MCES ranked sixth among its peers in retail rates. This equaled the 2002 rank which was an improvement over 1999 when MCES was ranked ninth. Peer agencies are considered as all those that treat more than 100 million gallons of wastewater per day and respond to NACWA's triennial Financial Survey. A summary of rankings based on the last four surveys follows:

Surveyed Rates For	MCES' Retail Rate Ranking*
2005	6 of 23 (77th percentile)
2002	6 of 31 (83rd percentile)
1999	9 of 30 (72nd percentile)
1996	8 of 29 (75th percentile)

* Because of the different number of responses in each year, the percentile rank of MCES is also provided (this represents the percentage of respondents that reported higher retail rates than MCES).