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SECTION 6. WATER RATES AND DELIVERIES

Items below are ordered as they appear in the report form.

Throughout Section 6A Water Rates

Costs, charges, fees: Only enter the dollars and cents as a number without any commas or dollar signs, e.g., “1000” means one thousand dollars (no comma) and “50.68” means fifty dollars and 68 cents.

Dates: Enter dates using the format MM/DD/YYYY, e.g., 03/01/2017.  If a date is “non-applicable,” enter 01/01/1000; if a number is “non-applicable”, enter the number zero--otherwise you may receive an error message.

HCF (or CCF): 100 cubic feet. There are 748 gallons in 100 cubic feet.
6 HCF equals 4,488 gallons or 4.5 thousand gallons or 0.014 acre feet, or 0.0045 million gallons
12 HCF equals 8,976 gallons or 9 thousand gallons or  0.028 acre feet, or 0.009 million gallons
24 HCF equals 17,952 gallons or 18 thousand gallons or  0.055 acre feet, or 0.018 million gallons

Residential Water Rates

Provide information for single-family water rates, if the rate structure differs between single-family and multi-family.

  1. Flat Base Rate: Basic charge that all customers pay regardless of use.
  2. Uniform Usage Rate: The charge per 100 cubic feet of water is the same regardless of use.
  3. Variable Base Rate: Basic charge is different depending on size of pipe, water meter, or other factors.
  4. Variable Usage Rate: Increasing Block or Tier Rate. The charge per 100 cubic feet or other increment of water increases as water use increases.
  5. Flat Base Rate + Uniform Usage Rate: Single flat base rate charge plus a charge per 100 cubic feet (HCF) that is same regardless of how much is used.
  6. Flat Base Rate + Variable Usage Rate: Single flat base rate charge that all customers pay plus increasing Block or Tier Rate. The charge per 100 cubic feet of water increases as water use increases.
  7. Variable Base Rate +Variable Usage Rate: Basic charge is different depending on size of pipe, water meter, or other factors plus increasing Block or Tier Rate. The charge per 100 cubic feet of water increases as water use increases.
  8. Allocation Based Rate: "Allocation-based conservation water pricing" means a retail water rate structure that meets all of the criteria in Water Code Section 372. See California Water Code sections 370-374, Allocation-based conservation water pricing” means a retail water rate structure that meets all these criteria:
    372.

    (a) A public entity may employ allocation-based conservation water pricing that meets all of the following criteria:
    (1) Billing is based on metered water use.
    (2) A basic use allocation is established for each customer account that provides a reasonable amount of water for the customer’s needs and property characteristics. Factors used to determine the basic use allocation may include, but are not limited to, the number of occupants, the type or classification of use, the size of lot or irrigated area, and the local climate data for the billing period. Nothing in this chapter prohibits a customer of the public entity from challenging whether the basic use allocation established for that customer’s account is reasonable under the circumstances. Nothing in this chapter is intended to permit public entities to limit the use of property through the establishment of a basic use allocation.
    (3) A basic charge is imposed for all water used within the customer’s basic use allocation, except that at the option of the public entity, a lower rate may be applied to any portion of the basic use allocation that the public entity has determined to represent superior or more than reasonable conservation efforts.
    (4) A conservation charge shall be imposed on all increments of water use in excess of the basic use allocation. The increments may be fixed or may be determined on a percentage or any other basis, without limitation on the number of increments, or any requirement that the increments or conservation charges be sized, or ascend uniformly, or in a specified relationship. The volumetric prices for the lowest through the highest priced increments shall be established in an ascending relationship that is economically structured to encourage conservation and reduce the inefficient use of water, consistent with Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution.
    (b) (1) Except as specified in subdivision (a), the design of an allocation-based conservation pricing rate structure shall be determined in the discretion of the public entity.
    (2) The public entity may impose meter charges or other fixed charges to recover fixed costs of water service in addition to the allocation-based conservation pricing rate structure.
    (c) A public entity may use one or more allocation-based conservation water pricing structures for any class of municipal or other service that the public entity provides.
    (Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 610, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)

  9. Single-family Residential: Single family detached dwellings
  10. Multi-family Residential: Apartments, condominiums, town houses, duplexes and mobile homes. If there are multiple rate structures for multi-family housing, provide data for the most common type of multi-family housing and explain this in the comment box for this section. For example, if multi-family rates vary by the number of apartments or family-units, enter data for the most common type of multi-family structure and explain this in the comments, (e.g., “Rates are for X-family units, our most common type of multi-family structure”). Also, you may provide a link to your webpage that explains rates, if available.
  11. Tier Rates:
    If there is only a flat base rate, select “not tiered”. In the table on Residential Water Rates, in the row “Flat base rate” under the column “cost per unit”, enter the flat rate amount ($).
    If your water system charges different rates that vary with the volume of water consumed, it is a type of tiered rate. Enter the tier rate data starting with the lowest volume of water use in the row for “Tier rate structure level 1”.
    If your water system uses an allocation rate structure, provide information on tiers in the comment box that follows.  You may include a link to a webpage with this information in the comment box.
  12. Residential service connections:
    1. Single-family service connection fee for new construction refers to a hookup for a brand new home. These are sometimes called “impact” or “capital” fees and may be paid by developers.
    2. Single-family service connection fee for an existing home refers to a connection fee for an existing home that has a new account holder. (If you charge a monthly fee for using a meter, that fee is included under “Other charges” for questions on affordable drinking water.)
    3. Multi-family service connection fee for new construction refers to a connection fee for a newly constructed apartment building or similar structure.
  13. Commercial/Institutional: Retail establishments, office buildings, laundries, schools, prisons, hospitals, dormitories, nursing homes, hotels
  14. Industrial: All manufacturing
  15. Landscape Irrigation: Parks, play fields, cemeteries, median strips, golf courses
  16. Agricultural Irrigation: Irrigation of commercially-grown crops
  17. Other: Fire suppression, street cleaning, line flushing, construction meters, temporary meters
  18. HCF (or CCF): 100 cubic feet. There are 748 gallons in 100 cubic feet.
    6 HCF equals 4,488 gallons or 4.5 thousand gallons or 0.014 acre feet, or 0.0045 million gallons
    12 HCF equals 8,976 gallons or 9 thousand gallons or 0.028 acre feet, or 0.009 million gallons
    24 HCF equals 17,952 gallons or 18 thousand gallons or 0.055 acre feet, or 0.018 million gallons
    “Other charges” refers to non-drinking water charges that are added to water bills. “Other charges” may include property taxes, fire suppression, waste water or sewer services, monthly meter service charges, etc.
  19. Shut-Offs: This section pertains to residential service connections that experienced 1 or more drinking water shut-offs due to delinquent payments in the year 2017 (January 1 to December 31). Please exclude accounts for residential units that were vacant, where there was a death of the primary account holder, and accounts for commercial, industrial, and institutional customers.
  20. Residential reconnection fee: Reconnection fee to restore drinking water service due to delinquent payments applied to existing customers.  If there was a change during 2017, please give the fee that was in effect for the greater portion of the year. 
  21. Median duration of shut-offs: Include multiple shut-offs for the same account as independent shut-offs in the calculation of the median duration. If the account was shut off during 2016 and not reconnected until 2017, please count the duration of the shutoff from the first day of disconnection until the day it was reconnected in 2017. If the account was shut off and remains shut off until now, please tally the number of days from the 1st day of disconnection to December 31, 2017.