Chester Metropolitan District (CMD) will be changing its water rate structure beginning in late summer of 2018. The CMD Board of Commissioners endeavored to develop a rate structure that was equitable to residential customers. CMD hired Raftelis from Charlotte, North Carolina to review our existing water rate structure and propose a rate structure that will strike a fair balance between residential and industrial customers.
Effective September 1, 2018, CMD will no longer charge customers through a “declining block” water rate structure. A declining block water rate structure caters to large (mostly industrial) water users because the price per gallon of water goes down as water usage goes up. Under the new structure, all customers – residential and industrial – will now have a “base rate” calculated on meter size and will pay the same flat rate per 1000 gallons of water used. This new flat rate is $7.19 per 1000 gallons.
Customers will no longer see additional fees, such as the “Residuals Management Fee”, “DHEC Fee”, and “Capital Projects Fee.” Those charges are no longer listed as separate line items on the water bill and the charges have been included in the base rate charge and the uniform water rate.
Table One – Old Rate and New Rate Comparison
CMD’s 2017 Revenue Bond Resolution calls for a 7% water rate increase each year over the next few years. A 7% water rate increase has been applied to the new water rate structure this year. However, most residential customers can expect to see a decrease in their average monthly water bill, as evidenced above in Table One.
Referencing Table One, the column designated as Current Charges represents existing water charges under the old rate structure. The column designated as 7% Increase Charges increases the current water charges by 7%. The column designated Proposed Charges ¾” represents the new water charges using the new water rate structure. The last column designated as Savings represents the reduction in new water charges versus the old water charges with a 7% rate increase.
The new water rate schedule met the goals of the CMD commission to develop a water rate and water rate schedule that is fairer to residential customers than the old water rate schedule. The new water rate schedule and the proposed 2018-2019 CMD Budget were presented in two public hearings at the Chester County Library on June 27, 2018. The public hearings were held at 2 pm and 5 pm in the Jean White Room. The 2018-2019 CMD Budget was approved in a special call meeting of the CMD Commission held on June 29, 2018.
CLICK HERE TO SEE CMD’S CURRENT RATE AND FEE SCHEDULE.
Capital Recovery Fees for Water are in Effect
Chester Metropolitan District (CMD) has begun the process of imposing Capital Recovery Fees for all new development in Chester County. Customers who apply for new taps (new service; one not currently connected to CMD’s water system) will be subject to these fees, as advertised in previous articles. The proposed capital recovery fee schedule was presented in a public hearing at the Gateway Conference Center at 6 pm on May 31, 2018. The CMD Commission approved the capital recovery fee schedule at the June 12, 2018 monthly board meeting.