12101979 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I regular meeting, december 10, 1979 118 page three Mr. Hyatt seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The City Secretary read the caption of an Ordinance as follows: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, TEXAS, AMENDING SECTION 30-27, ENTITLED "RATES" OF DIVISION 2, ENTITLED "WATER SERVICE" OF CHAPTER 30, ENTITLED "WATER AND SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF SAID CITY BY INCREASING THE RATES CHARGED FOR THE FIRST 2,000 GALLONS OF WATER USAGE OR LESS, SETTING ONE RATE PER THOUSAND GALLONS FOR THE NEXT 8,000 GALLONS AND ANOTHER RATE PER THOUSAND GALLONS FOR ALL ADDITIONAL GALLONS, PROVIDING THAT MULTIPLE DWELLING UNITS SERVED UNDER ONE WATER METER SHALL BE BILLED ON THE BASIS OF THE AVERAGE WATER USAGE PER DWELLING AND PROVIDING FOR TWO SCHEDULES OF RATES, ONE FOR URBAN CUSTOMERS (UW-l) AND ONE FOR RURAL CUSTOMERS (RW-l); BY AMENDING SECTION 30-35, ENTITLED "RATES" OF DIVISION 3, ENTITLED "SEWER SERVICE" OF CHAPTER 30, ENTITLED "WATER AND SEWERS AND SEIl'lAGE DISPOSAL" OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF SAID CITY BY INCREASING THE RATES CHARGED FOR THE FIRST 2,000 GALLONS OF WATER USAGE OR LESS, SETTING ONE RATE FOR THE NEXT 6,000 GALLONS OF WATER USAGE AND PROVIDING THAT THERE BE NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR SEWER SERVICES FOR WATER USAGE IN EXCESS OF 8,000 GALLONS, PROVIDING THAT MULTIPLE DWELLING UNITS SERVED UNDER ONE WATER METER SHALL BE BILLED ON THE BASIS OF THE AVERAGE WATER USAGE PER DWELLING AND PROVIDING FOR TWO SCHEDULES OF RATES, ONE FOR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS (SR-l) AND ONE FOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS (SC-l); AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Mr. James moved the Ordinance be approved on second reading. Mr. Tenorio seconded the motion. The City Manager summarized staff recommendations which had been made to the Council in previous presentations. Mr. Phil Dudley, Executive Director of the Austin Apartment Owner's Association, came before the Council to state that he also represented twelve owners of apartment complexes in San Marcos who were members of the San Marcos Chapter of the Austin Association. Mr. Dudley informed the Council that, while his group felt the rate increase was warranted, they objected to the application of the rate schedule to multi-family dwellings, contending that the application which levied a minimum charge for each unit in a multi-family dwelling complex did not reflect the actual cost of service to those units. Mr. Dudley pointed out that the City was not required to meter each unit individually or send out separate bills for each unit. Mr. Dudley further contended that Cities generally consider multi-family dwellings a commercial class of customer and levied only one minimum charge per complex. The City Manager responded that, while some cities did bill on the basis described by Mr. Dudley, other cities did not. This was confirmed by John Denison, city rate consultant representing Electric Power Engineers, Inc. Mr. Denison reminded the City Council that his rate proposal was based on the premise that all residences, whether multi-family or single family, should be billed on the same basis. Mr. Denison reported that the City of College Station billed apartment complexes on a per unit basis at 100% of the utility rate and based on a 100% occupancy factor as opposed to the 90% factor presently being considered by the Council. Mr. Denison further recommended that the Council discount apartment charges by 50% until the end of June when most leases expire and discount the Southwest Texas State University sewer rate by 30% for the same period of time to allow the University to re-meter its system to reflect water produced from the University wells which actually entered the sewer system as opposed to that water which was used for its cooling system and irrigation. Dr. Eugene Payne, Vice-President of Fiscal Affairs for Southwest Texas State University, came before the Council to state that the University would support Mr. Denison's proposal and requested that the Council give it serious consideration. The City Manager also pointed out to the Council that it would be impossible to bill each residence on the actual cost of service since there were so many variables in determining actural cost of service per consumer. Mr. Cavazos moved that the rate ordinance be amended to replace the rate schedules approved on first reading by the following rate schedules which were to be read by the City Secretary. The City Secretary read the rate schedules as directed by Mr. Cavazos' motion.