Sudden hike to water bills
NWT Brewing Company owners say December water charges spiked 300 per cent
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City council is promising to temporarily adjust trucked water fees after at least three Old Town businesses complained a massive spike in monthly water costs could threaten their viability.
John Doody, co-owner of Bayside Bed & Breakfast and Dancing Moose Café, said he's hoping city council makes changes to water fees for those not on piped water, like his businesses in Old Town. New rates have caused bills for some businesses to see staggering increases. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
John Doody, co-owner of Bayside Bed & Breakfast and Dancing Moose Cafe, told Yellowknifer he first realized something had changed when he received his water bill for December, which was "horrendously out of line" with previous bills.
During winter months, Doody said he pays about $1,100 for water.
"Now it's essentially doubled with the City of Yellowknife new rates," he said.
According to a memo presented at a Municipal Services Committee meeting on Monday, the city entered into a new contract for trucked water delivery with WB Water Services last July. As part of that new contract, the company was required to install a new electronic water metering system by December 2016 to improve the city's accountability when it comes to water consumption.
But fees also increased at that time. The cost of requesting additional trucked water deliveries beyond two per week went up by $25 to $60, according to the memo.
While that delivery fee used to include up to 2,730 litres of water under the city's old contract, "the service delivery fee no longer includes a portion of the water delivered," the memo states.
The fee per litre also increases significantly - by more than five times - once customers start using more than 15,000 litres.
NWT Brewing Company co-owners Miranda and Fletcher Stevens, who were at city hall Monday, said they easily consume more than the 15,000-litre threshold in a month, estimating they use about 120,000 litres in that time.
Fletcher said their bill initially went up by about 300 per cent in December without any warning. The big question for Miranda, though, is why the water itself costs more for people on trucked service than on piped service.
Doody is wondering the same thing.
"Why, at 15,000 litres, is there a rate increase?" Doody said.
"I don't see any basis."
That answer wasn't clear at council's meeting, prompting Coun. Julian Morse to suggest the city should review the issue more holistically.
"There's definitely some questions behind the rationale," Morse said. "We do need an interim solution."
Sheila Bassi-Kellett, the city's senior administrative officer, suggested the city should temporarily charge trucked water customers a bulk rate for consumption over 15,000 litres. The solution would be for the 2017 year.
"As an example to illustrate, if there was a user that consumed, let's say 26,000 litres of water in a month under the new contract ... it would have been almost $2,300 a month in water fees," Bassi-Kellett said.
Under the interim solution, that cost would drop to about $850 a month, she said.
Administration suggested those changes should be made retroactively to Jan. 1, 2017, which leaves businesses to deal with hefty December bills.
The city is in the midst of an audit for 2016, said Bassi-Kellett, and tampering with 2016 fees could be an administrative headache.
Morse didn't think that was a good enough reason not to reimburse customers for the increases in December.
"If people have paid a bill that council has decided is an unfair bill, I think we should make sure we're refunding that money," Morse said.
Cathy Allooloo, owner of NARWAL Northern Adventures, said she was pleased with the discussion at council.
"I think they understand the problem and I saw some good dialogue between council and administration," she said.
"It looks like they're taking the issue seriously and they want to come up with a fair solution."
But she worries about an "uptown versus Old Town divide" over water costs.
Doody shared concerns over the fairness of steeply higher bills for Old Town customers.
He expressed hope the city would decide to implement a universal charge for those on trucked water and those on piped water.
Miranda said she felt all businesses should be paying the same amount for water.
"The fee to bring it to us, that's not a problem," she said, adding that's the price for wanting to be located in Old Town. "But the commodity itself shouldn't cost more."
Coun. Shauna Morgan said she wants to see a full cost recovery analysis for trucked and piped water users in addition to putting an interim solution in place to reduce the high costs. That would help council decide whether the fees the city is charging are reasonable, she said.
Council is expected to bring a recommendation forward on the issue next week.
- with files from Shane Magee
