Memo follow up from 10-28-13 mtgAll
C1 of
ot
MINNESOTA
LATE: 1 November er 2013
TO: Lori Johnson, city Administrator
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Dan Jordet, Administrative Services Director
RE: Questions from 10128/2013 Budget Discussion
Duringdiscussions on the o Budget last Monday several questions were raised which l wi
ll try to
answer with this memorandum.
DNR/DeiDartment of Health Water Fee: Each year the City makes a charge to the utility bills of water
customers of $ 6.36 for every connection to the water distribution system. It was incorrectly referred to
i
as a DNR fee at the meeting. It is a Department artment of Health Drinking Water Protection fee. It is collected
once per year on the July billing. in 2013, the city will pay $16,243 to the Department of Health for this
fee. The fee is Based on 2,554 connections time $ 6.36 per connection.
Water Meter sales: Any individual or business wishing to connect to the city's water system must
purchase a meter from the city. Residential customers purchase a 518" meter. The city's cost for a
newly constructed home, which includes the meter, meter horn, ureter register and electronic ruder, is
60, f . It is sold to the customer for $ 400.00. If an existing hone requires a new meter it is also
sold at a Price of ${400.00■ The prices include inspection of the meter following its installation. While
these fees are documented in Utility Billing records, they do not appear to have been included In the
Fee schedule adopted by Ordinance 2012-19.
Water and Severer Permit Fees: Water Expense Account # 306 pays the charges from the State of
Minnesota for ha mat fees (chlorine) at each well site $ 100,00 per well) and a water permit fee paid to
the State. In 2012 that permit was $ 5,600. in 2013, the permit was $ 7,711.
Water Expense Account # 375 pays the fees collected from each water connection once per year, as
detailed in the first paragraph above,
Serer Expense Account # 306 pays MPCA permits for the East and Nest Wastewater treatment
plants=
Administrative Allocation Narrative: The Administrative Allocation charge for Water, sewer, stormwater
and Inspections(Building safety) transfers money from each of these funds to the General Fund in
exchange for time spent y council members, Administration staff and Finance staff in dealing with the
operation of these funds; The City council allocation for each fund is equal to about one hour of time
ry ear devoted to discussing each of the operations. The Administration charges of 2.5% equate to
about 3 hoursp r week (total) responding to questions about these areas y the Ad m city
Clerk or Receptionist. The Finance charges equate to about 3 1/ hours per week used between the
three non-utility billing staff for service to those Funds. Those percentages are totaled for each cost
center and multiplied times the budgeted personnel cost for each cost center. The result is the amount
transferred to the General Fund by these individual funds.
For 20114, the Water Fund will transfer a total of 14,604 to the General Fuad for time spent by the City
Council, the three Administration staff and the three non-utility billing Finance staff. The Serer Fuad
will transfer the same amount. The Stormwater Fund will transfer $ 12,226 and the Building Safety
Fund will transfer $ 213104. The number is higher for Building Safety because it receives a great deal
of support from the Cit} Clerk and the Receptionist.
If anyone requires additional clarification or has questions about the allocation please let nye know.
Building Safety.Code Violation fees; While a question was raised about the levy, collection and
tracking of these fees, l have not yet been able to establish the pattern for their charge out, recording,
tracking and collections. I will continue to work on this itern.
As always, rs, if there are questions, clarifications needed or additional Information required on any of
these topics l am happy to respond.