NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGE IN SEWER RATES
The board of the Shady Spring Public Service District (“District”) has on May 15, 2023, determined that the District’s sewer system at its current rates cannot meet the statutory cash working capital reserve fund requirement, approved the Glen Morgan Wastewater Treatment Plant Sewer System Improvement Project (“Project”), and approved a three step across the board increase in rates for sewer service.
The approved increased rates have been forwarded to the Raleigh County Commission for its consideration pursuant to W.Va. Code §§ 16-13A-9(a)(2)(E) and 24-2-11. The Raleigh County Commission has until June 29, 2023 to approve, modify, or reject the increased rates. If the Raleigh County Commission takes no action by June 29, 2023, the District Board approved rates will become effective for all service rendered after August 14, 2023 by operation of law. The District provides sewer service to over 4,700 customers in Raleigh County.
The District Board approved the following rates:
NON-PROJECT RATES
SCHEDULE I, STEP A
(C) APPLICABILITY
Applicable within the entire territory served except fo r the Ghent area and service areas formerly served by Glade Springs Utility Limited Liability Company and Flat Top Lake Association, until January 1, 2024.
(I) AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial, industrial (except unusual industrial waste) and resale sewer service
(I) RATES
Usage Charge $11.00 per 1,000 gallons of water usage
(I) MINIMUM CHARGE
No bill will be rendered for less than $24.75 per month
(I) FLAT RATE CHARGE (Customers with non-metered water supply)
Equivalent to 4,500 gallons of water usage $49.50 per month
(O)
NON-PROJECT RATES
SCHEDULE II, STEP A
(C) APPLICABILITY
Applicable to the Ghent area and the territories formerly served by Glade Springs Utility Limited Liability Company and Flat Top Lake Association, until January 1, 2024.
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial, industrial (except unusual industrial waste) and resale sewer service
RATES (customers with metered water supply)
Customer Charge – Each customer shall pay a customer charge of $25.00 per month.
(I) Commodity Charge – Each customer shall pay a commodity charge of $11.00 per 1,000 gallons per month.
(I) MINIMUM CHARGE
No bill will be rendered for less than $49.75 per month,
(I) FLAT RATE CHARGE (Customers with non-metered water supply) Equivalent to 4,000 gallons of water usage $69.00 per month.
(O)
NON-PROJECT RATES
SCHEDULE I, STEP B
(C) APPLICABILITY
Applicable within the entire territory served except for the Ghent area and service areas formerly served by Glade Springs Utility Limited Liability Company and Flat Top Lake Association, after January 1, 2024 and until substantial completion of the Glen Morgan Wastewater Treatment Plant Project.
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial, industrial (except unusual industrial waste) and resale sewer service
(I) RATES
Usage Charge $11.90 per 1,000 gallons of water usage
(I) MINIMUM CHARGE
No bill will be rendered for less than $26.78 per month
(I) FLAT RATE CHARGE (Customers with non-metered water supply)
Equivalent to 4,500 gallons of water usage $53.55 per month
NON-PROJECT RATES
SCHEDULE II, STEP B
(C) APPLICABILITY
Applicable to the Ghent area and the territories formerly served by Glade Springs Utility Limited Liability Company and Flat Top Lake Association, after January 1, 2024 and until substantial completion of the Glen Morgan Wastewater Treatment Plant Project.
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial, industrial (except unusual industrial waste) and resale sewer service
RATES (customers with metered water supply)
Customer Charge – Each customer shall pay a customer charge of $25.00 per month.
(I) Commodity Charge – Each customer shall pay a commodity charge of $11.90 per 1,000 gallons per month.
(I) MINIMUM CHARGE
No bill will be rendered for less than $51.78 per month,
(I) FLAT RATE CHARGE (Customers with non-metered water supply) Equivalent to 4,000 gallons of water usage $72.60 per month.
POST-PROJECT RATES
SCHEDULE I
(C) APPLICABILITY
Applicable within the entire territory served except for the Ghent area and service areas formerly served by Glade Springs Utility Limited Liability Company and Flat Top Lake Association, after substantial completion of the Glen Morgan Wastewater Treatment Plant Project.
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial, industrial (except unusual industrial waste) and resale sewer service
(I) RATES
Usage Charge $12.50 per 1,000 gallons of water usage
(I) MINIMUM CHARGE
No bill will be rendered for less than $28.13 per month
(I) FLAT RATE CHARGE (Customers with non-metered water supply)
Equivalent to 4,500 gallons of water usage $56.25 per month
POST-PROJECT RATES
SCHEDULE II
(C) APPLICABILITY
Applicable to the Ghent area and the territories formerly served by Glade Springs Utility Limited Liability Company and Flat Top Lake Association, after substantial completion of the Glen Morgan Wastewater Treatment Plant Project.
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for general domestic, commercial, industrial (except unusual industrial waste) and resale sewer service
RATES (customers with metered water supply)
Customer Charge – Each customer shall pay a customer charge of $25.00 per month.
(I) Commodity Charge – Each customer shall pay a commodity charge of $12.50 per 1,000 gallons per month.
(I) MINIMUM CHARGE
No bill will be rendered for less than $53.13 per month,
(I) FLAT RATE CHARGE (Customers with non-metered water supply) Equivalent to 4,000 gallons of water usage $75.00 per month.
SCHEDULE III
APPLICABILITY
Applicable in entire territory served
AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE
Available for wastewater and leachate haulers
(I) RATES
Usage Charge – Each hauler shall pay a commodity charge of $37.62 per 1,000 gallons per load. Load will be two times the actual capacity of the truck or other transport method delivering wastewater and leachate. Actual capacity shall be determined or verified by the Shady Spring PSD.
(N) SCHEDULE IV
DELAYED PAYMENT PENALTY
The above schedule is net. On all accounts not paid in full when due, ten percent (10%) will be added to the net current amount unpaid. This delayed payment penalty is not interest and is to be collected only once for each bill where it is appropriate.
(C) TAP FEE
A tap fee of $100 will be charged to customers applying for service before construction is completed adjacent to the customer’s premises in connection with a publicly funded project.
A tap fee of $300.00 will be charged to customers applying for service outside of a publicly funded project for each new tap to the system.
RETURNED CHECK CHARGE
A service charge equal to the actual bank fee assessed to the sewer utility up to a maximum of $25.00 will be imposed upon any customer whose check for payment of charges is returned by the bank due to insufficient funds.
DISCONNECT-RECONNECT-ADMINISTRATIVE FEES
Whenever water service has been disconnected for non-payment of sewer bills in conjunction with a water service termi nation agreement with Raleigh County Public Service District, Cool Ridge/Flat Top Public Service District, Beckley Water Company, or West Virginia American Water Company, Inc., a disconnection fee of $20.00 shall be charged; or in the event the delinquent sewer bill is collected by the water company or the District, an administrative fee of $20.00 shall be charged.
Whenever water service, which has been previously disconnected or otherwise withheld for non-payment of a sewer bill in conjunction with a service termination agreement with Raleigh County Public Service District, Cool Ridge/Flat Top Public Service District, Beckley Water Company, or West Virginia American Water Company, Inc., is reconnected, a reconnection fee of $20.00 shall be charged.
LEAK ADJUSTMENT
$0.91 per 1,000 gallons of water is to be used when the bill reflects unusual water consumption which can be attributed to eligible leakage on customer’s side of meter. This rate shall be applied to all such consumption above the customer’s historical average usage.
SECURITY DEPOSIT
Not to exceed two-twelfths (2/12) of the annual estimated charge for residential service, or two-twelfths (2/12) of the annual estimated charge for commercial service, or fifty dollars, whichever is greater.
SCHEDULE V
SURCHARGE FORMULA TO BE APPLIED IN CASES WHERE SURFACE
DRAINAGE IS CONNECTED TO THE UTILITY’S SEWER SYSTEM
APPLICABILITY
Whenever the Utility has discovered that a customer’s roof drain, down spouts, storm sewer or other similar facilities conducting surface water have been connected to the Utility’s sewer system, and such a customer has failed to take appropriate action, within thirty (30) days of receipt of a demand by the Utility in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Public Service Commission, to eliminate such connection, a surcharge will be imposed upon the customer calculated on the basis of the following formula:
S = A x R x .0006233 x C
S = The surcharge in dollars
A = The area under roof and/or the area of any other water collection surface connected to the sanitary sewer, in square feet
R = The measured monthly rainfall, in inches
0.0006233 = A conversion factor to change inches of rain x square feet of surface to thousands of gallons of water
C = The Utility’s approved rate per thousand gallons of metered water usage
The Utility shall not impose the surcharge unless and until the customer has been notified by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by hand delivery, that it has been established by smoke testing, dye testing or on-site inspection that rain or other surface water is being introduced into the sanitary sewer system at the customer’s location, and that the customer has not acted within thirty (30) days from receipt of such notice to divert the water from the Sanitary sewer system.
The surcharge shall be calculated and imposed for each month that said condition continues to exist. Failure to pay the surcharge and/or correct the situation shall give rise to the possible termination of water service in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.
SCHEDULE VI
SURCHARGE FORMULA TO BE APPLIED TO A CUSTOMER PRODUCING UNUSUAL WASTE
The charge of treatment of unusual waste will be calculated on the basis of the following formula:
Ci=VoVi+BoBi+SoSi
Ci = charge to unusual user per year
Vo = average unit cost of transport and treatment chargeable to volume, in dollars per gallons
Vi = volume of waste water from unusual users, in gallons per year
Bo = average unit of cost of treatment, chargeable to Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), in dollars per pound
Bi = weight of BOD from unusual users, in pounds per year
So = average unit costs of treatment (including sludge treatment) chargeable to total solids, in dollars per pound
Si = weight of total solids from unusual users, in pounds per year
When an unusual user is to be served, a preliminary study of its wastes, and the cost of transport and treatment thereof, will be made. Waste containing materials which, in the judgment of the Utility, should not be introduced into the sewer system need not be handled by it. The results of this preliminary study will be used to determine the feasibility of the proposed sewer service and the charge therefore, based upon the formula set out above.
Thereafter, unusual sewage will be monitored on a regular basis and at the conclusion of each fiscal year, based on the investigation aforesaid and audit of the Shady Spring Public Service District records, new cost figures will be calculated for use in the above formula. The cost of establishing the monitoring facilities shall be paid by the unusual user. Based on these audited figures, additional billings covering the past fiscal year will be made for payment by each unusual user, or refund given by the Utility, as the case may be. Such audited figures will then be used for the preliminary billing for the next fiscal year, at the end of which an adjustment will be made as aforesaid.
SCHEDULE VII
APPLICABLE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE
SHADY SPRING PUBLIC SERVICE DISTRICT
Where the amount of sanitary sewage discharged into the Shady Spring waste treatment system by certain industrial plant or plants cannot be accurately determined by the use of the plant’s water meter or meters, and said plant cannot install a flow meter to measure such waste, a special formula will be used whereby such plant or plants will pay to the Shady Spring Public Service District a sewer charge calculated at fifty (50) gallons of water per each employee at the plant each working day.
The Raleigh County Commission may consider approving the Project and adopting, rejecting, or modifying the District board approved rates at a properly noticed meeting of the Raleigh County Commission. Citizens should monitor the posted agendas of the Raleigh County Commission.
RALEIGH COUNTY COMMISSION
ID: 709663