The current structure
Right now, all village water customers pay a base rate of $18.10 per meter (regardless of size) per month, which includes up to 2,000 gallons of water whether they use it or not.
Likewise, all village sewer customers currently pay $22.85 per Residential Equivalent Unit (REU) per month, which includes up to 8,333 gallons of sewage per REU whether they produce it or not.
An REU is a unit of measurement equal to the average water usage of a single family home. A home is assigned a value of 1 REU whereas a business, such as a restaurant or car wash, can be assigned multiple REUs and pay for them.
Once customers reach the minimum 2,000 gallons of water and 8,333 gallons of sewage per REU, they pay $3.41 for every 1,000 gallons of water used after that and 51 cents for every 1,000 gallons of sewage they produce.
Base rates based on meter size
Under the proposed structure, the monthly water base rate would be assessed according to meter size ? the bigger the meter, the higher the rate.
Water customers with ?-inch meters would see their base rate decrease to $16.45 per month, while those with 1-inch meters would see their rate remain at $18.10.
All other users would pay increased base rates determined by the size of the meter.
Under the proposal, a 1.5-inch meter pays $53.47; a 2-inch meter pays $92.96; a 3-inch meter pays $201.54; a 4-inch meter pays $359.48; and a 6-inch meter pays $793.82.
Sewer base rates would also be based on meter size.
Sewer customers with a ?-inch meter would pay $29 per month while those with a 1-inch meter would pay $31.17 per month. As for the larger meters, a 1.5-inch meter pays $94.24; a 2-inch meter pays $163.83; a 3-inch meter pays $355.20; a 4-inch meter pays $633.56; and a 6-inch meter pays $1,399.06.
Flow, baby, flow
The proposal calls for water and sewer customers to pay for every gallon they actually use, starting from zero.
No more including 2,000 gallons of water and 8,333 gallons of sewage per REU in the base rates.
It’s proposed that all customers would pay $3.96 for every 1,000 gallons of water they use and $1.75 for every 1,000 gallons of sewage they produce.
Make room for the IWC fee
Right now, the Industrial Waste Control (IWC) fees charged by Detroit are absorbed by the village sewer fund to the tune of approximately $38,000 annually.
Village officials are looking to pass this cost along to non-residential sewer users on a monthly basis according to their meter size.
Thus, for commercial and industrial sewer users, the IWC charges would be as follows ? a ?-inch meter would be charged $13.56 per month; a 1-inch meter pays $22.60; a 1.5-inch meter pays $49.72; a 2-inch meter pays $72.32; a 3-inch meter pays $131.08; and a 4-inch meter pays $180.80.