Yellowknife (June 13/03) - Proposed changes to Yellowknife water bills met some opposition Tuesday night at a City Hall open house.

About 20 people attended the consultation that stemmed from distribution of a city newsletter outlining possible water rate changes.

The newsletter clearly states residential users with one bathroom who use below average water consumption and residential users with trucked water could pay more under the recommended system.

"You've reduced the consumption cost and raised the fixed cost for those on piped water," said Paul Guy at the meeting. "My water bill will now go up 26 per cent -- even if I don't use any water."

Several people at the meeting were concerned the proposed system will not encourage people to conserve water.

"I'd like to see a higher consumption rate, rather then a higher fixed rate," added Guy.

Robert Charpentier, director of the city finance department, said one main reason water rates need to be changed is because the current access fee is not measuring up to actual usage.

The access fee is currently based on what the city calls an equivalent residential unit, or toilet tax.

Charpentier said the main reason for changing the system is because the current cost of Yellowknife water bills is not completely covering the cost of the city's water system.

"The current bill does not reflect a fair recovery of costs due to the toilet tax," said Charpentier.

Toilet tax rates are based on factors, such as the number of toilets in a house, which do not reflect actual use or demand on the system.

The city proposes to eliminate the toilet tax method of measuring consumption and replace it with a two-tiered billing system outlined in the city newsletter.

The two-tiered system would be based on an access fee and a consumption fee.

The first charge of the two-part system combines the demand charges, access charges and infrastructure levies and replaces them with one fixed access fee.

The second component of the two-tiered system is based on a volumetric charge of actual water consumption.

The city's ultimate goal is to recover all costs associated with providing water and waste-water services.

But Charpentier said to avoid "rate shock" -- an increase in utility bills of more than 10 per cent -- this isn't going to be done all at once.

The new water structure is not designed to increase revenue, the newsletter states. It is designed to introduce a fairer way of recovering costs.

Charpentier said he will be summarizing the concerns brought forward during the consultation and will present them to council sometime next month.

"We're going to go back to council for more direction," he said.

Charpentier indicated the city plans to have the new water bill ready for introduction in January.