Overall water rate revenue down $150,000 over last 3 months
Emergency water rates have generated a total of $32,795 over the past three months while overall water revenue is down $150,000 compared to the same three months of last year, Chief Finance Officer/City Clerk Jason Muninger said this week.
“For the months of April, May and June, revenue from the adjusted water rates that went into effect in April totals $32,795,” Muninger said.
He said most of the emergency rate revenue, $25,696 or 78.3 percent, is from commercial accounts, while $7,099 or 21.7 percent is from residential customers.
“Total billing always varies widely and that has continued throughout the drought,” Muninger said. “Some households and businesses used far less water than they normally would have and therefore paid much less than others who continued their regular use and paid higher rates, as outlined in Stages 2 and 3 of the Water Shortage Ordinance.
“But taking an average of the total number of the City’s 1,292 commercial accounts, an additional $19.89 was billed to those accounts through June, while an average of an additional 52 cents was billed to our 13,650 residential customers. To be clear, though, some customers would have paid much more for higher use, and others would have paid less or no additional cost at all, based on their usage.”
Muninger said comparing overall water revenue for this time period to last last year shows a reduction in overall revenue of $20,000 for April, $55,000 for May, and $75,000 for June.
“So we actually collected about $150,000 less revenue for that three-month period than we normally would have,” he said.
City Manager Mike Bailey said the drop in revenue is good news, because it’s a strong indicator the community used less water during the worst of the drought.
“While we are still in Stage 1 of the Water Shortage Ordinance and conservation should continue to be top of mind for all of us, I am very proud of our community,” Bailey said. “The vast majority of our residents and businesses stepped up and did what we asked them to do — to conserve as much water as possible — and these numbers reflect that.”
A report on adjusted rate revenue for July will be available next month.