What are the Specific Provisions of the Two Fee Proposals?
The New Drainage Service Fee
The ordinance now before the City Council (Calendar Number 22,197) would levy a
Drainage Service Fee. The new fee, which would be added to the monthly water bill issued
by the Board, would be calculated by multiplying the monthly rate for the classification
of property times the number of square feet of such property, and dividing the total of
the fee by the total number of customers and/or owners of such property. The fee would be
phased in over a three year period as indicated in Table 1.
As indicated in the table, all non-profits, churches, hospitals and other governmental
entities would pay the proposed drainage service fee. The only properties exempted from
the fee would be those owned by the City of New Orleans and the Sewerage and Water Board.
The average residential customer would pay approximately $6.82 per month, or $81.84 per
year, for the drainage service fee if it is fully implemented.
Further adjustments to the proposed fee, either upwards or downwards, could be made by
the Sewerage and Water Board, with the consent of the City Council and the Board of
Liquidation.
The drainage service fee is projected to generate $16.6 million in the first full year
of collection. The amount collected is expected to yield $27.1 million by the third year
and each year thereafter. There is no planned or scheduled expiration date for the
proposed drainage fee.
The Sewerage Fee
The second fee proposed (Calendar Number 22, 199) would increase the existing user fees
for sewerage services. Sewerage fees are currently collected from approximately 145,000
residential, commercial, and industrial accounts of the Sewerage and Water Board.
A typical residential user with a 5/8 inch meter and using 5,200 gallons of water now pays
$11.17 per month for sewerage services. The typical residential user would pay an
additional $1.19 per month after the first step of the increase went into effect. By the
year 2002, the typical customer would pay $15.42 per month for sewerage services, or $4.25
more than current rates. The $4.25 per month in additional fees represents a 38 percent
increase.
The sewerage fee would generate approximately $9.1 million in the first year and rise
to a maximum of $17.4 million in 2002. |
