Wawa Municipal Council is considering a proposal for water meter-based billing.
CAO/Treasurer Maury O'Neill presented the proposal during last night's Corporate Planning Committee meeting, building upon recommendations from KPMG last year.
O'Neill is recommending the initial implementation aim to cover costs for water and wastewater services with a 70/30 split - 70% of the costs would be covered by a "fixed" component on the user's bill, relating to the size of the pipe into their property, while the remaining 30% of the system's costs would be covered by the variable rate, the amount of water used.
She emphasized that this will see some people pay substantially more and others pay substantially less, and that won't be entirely based on usage, as her proposal would see a doubling of the fixed rate charged and usage would be a smaller component initially, though it would be "short term pain, long term gain", as plans would be to shift to a split of 60% variable, 40% fixed - a change she suggested could take a decade, as rates are adjusted to be more fair and ensure costs are covered.
Council was warned that the water and wastewater system would need to cover its own costs through user fees sometime in the future, but it does not at the moment, with property taxes currently covering some of the costs - more than $1.5-million in revenue is needed to cover operational costs and the paying down of a loan to build the water treatment plant.
O'Neill noted some details could change - to address certain types of properties or scenarios - with further discussion planned for Council's November 19th meeting, so it could come to a final decision December 10th, which would allow for the new billing to take effect in May 2020.