Winter Averaging Method to be Implemented for Residential Sewer Customers

The City is implementing the winter averaging method for sewer bills to provide existing residential customers the most equitable fee on sewer costs throughout the year.

What is Residential Winter Sewer Averaging Method?

This method takes the amount of water used during the months of November, December, January and February to calculate an average consumption.  The single month with the highest water usage is removed from the calculation, and the average of the remaining three months is used as the basis for billing sewer charges for the following 12-month period.

Water consumption is used to calculate the sewer charge because the inflow of water to the property is directly related to the outflow of sewer and the related cost to treat wastewater.  Winter months are used for averaging because this is historically the time with the lowest water consumption for residential customers. Also, most winter water use is related to wastewater processing as outdoor watering is typically minimal during this time.

New utility customers will be charged the base rate plus the system average times the volume rate.  The new resident fee for FY 2022 is $80.23.  Once a customer has established a winter average, their bill will be based on their consumption not the system average.

Commercial sewer charges will continue to be based upon actual monthly consumption at the rate of $8.30 per 1,000 gallons.

Example of the Water Averaging Method

The water consumption for the months of November, December, January, and February are 6, 10, 5, and 4, respectively. After the high volume of 10 is removed, the winter average is 5:

(Winter Average x Sewer Volume Rate) + Sewer Base Fee = Monthly Charge or 5 x $4.89 + $46.00 = $70.45 monthly charge for the next 12 months

If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service at 972-771-6228 option 2.