surcharge bills, which would equate to an approximate savings of $0.37 per month for the average residential customer, or $4.44 per year.
In addition, the "Winter Average Daily Usage" calculation continues to be used which allows the sewer surcharge rates to be applied to the lower of actual water usage or winter average, whichever is lower, for each customer. This ensures that excess summer water usage (for watering lawns, washing cars, etc) is not used in calculating the sewer surcharge rates.
Commercial users will see varying rate of increases depending on their size of service. Given that consumption for commercial customers varies significantly, analysis for the average commercial customer is shown below using a typical 1" service.
| Typical Commercial Customer Rates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sewer Rates | 2019 Current Rates | 2020 Proposed Rates |
| Fixed Sewer Charge | $108.11 for typical 1” service | $131.34 for typical 1” service |
| Variable Sewer Charge | $1.20 per cubic metre of water used (reduced for excess summer consumption) | $1.42 per cubic metre of water used (reduced for excess summer consumption) |
The majority of the increase in commercial rates is due to the realigning of the burden from residential to commercial customers to reflect actual consumption patterns. As previously mentioned, the City's allocation model historically used a residential / commercial split of 68% / 32%. Actual consumption, however, has historically been at a 47% / 53% allocation. As part of the 2019 Sewer Surcharge Budget, Administration began the process of adjusting the split in order to levy the costs in a way that more accurately reflects historical consumption patterns. In 2020, the budget reflects a split of 60% / 40%.
2019 Year-End Projections
As of the third quarter variance report the City projected an anticipated 2019 surplus for its' Sewer Surcharge Operating Fund of $123,200. As has been past practice, any surplus realized at year-end will be transferred to the Sewer Surcharge Reserve Fund. The balance in this reserve fund as of November 2019 is approximately $1.3M and is used as both a rate stabilization fund and a capital expenditure fund. The latter use is of particular importance as without it, matching provincial grants and the $3.5M in funding for the Basement Flooding Prevention Subsidy Program in 2017 would not have been possible.