BYLAW NO. 2113 — Sewer Utility Bylaw Amendment No. 6 (2023)

BYLAW NO. 2113 — Sewer Utility Bylaw Amendment No. 6 (2023)

Staff Report to Council

DATE: Tuesday, February 21, 2023
DEPARTMENT: Finance
SUBJECT: Sewer Utility Bylaw No. 1600 Amendment Bylaw

Contact: 2nd Floor, 877 Goldstream Avenue, Langford, BC V9B 2X8
t 250.478.7882
e administration@langford.ca

BACKGROUND

The City of Langford Sewer Utility Bylaw No. 1600 sets forth requirements for sanitary sewer servicing that includes items such as connection, disconnection, fees and charges, and maintenance and use.

The Sewer Utility Bylaw No. 1600 relates to the City’s agreement with Corix, operating in Langford as West Shore Environmental Services (WSES), who is the City’s sewer provider.

At the February 6, 2023, Regular Council meeting, Council passed the following motion with respect to the requested fee increases put forward by WSES:

THAT COUNCIL direct staff to work with West Shore Environmental Services to bring forward a bylaw amendment that does the following:

1. freezes the SCRF rate until such time as the full review of the contract and financial modelling is complete; and
2. that includes an increase in user fees for 2023.

The purpose of this report is to bring forward user fees and charges for 2023 for Council’s consideration.

COMMENTARY

Sewer Utility Bylaw No. 1600 was adopted in February 2016. It replaced an older bylaw by modernizing it and setting a fee structure for five consecutive years, including 2015 through to and including 2019 (Schedule B of Bylaw No. 1600).

Since the end of 2019, the Sewer Utility Bylaw No. 1600 has been amended annually for fee adjustments primarily based on the cost of living. Council may choose in the future to determine fees and charges either on an annual basis or for multiple consecutive years, however, at this time, staff are proposing consideration of fees and charges for 2023 only.

WSES has proposed the following for fees and charges for 2023:

As noted above, at the February 6, 2023, Regular Council meeting, Council directed staff to bring forward a bylaw amendment that freezes the SCRF rates and includes an increase in the user fees for 2023. Sewer Utility Bylaw Amendment No. 6 Bylaw No. 2113, 2023 has been prepared to reflect the SCRF’s being frozen and an increase to the user rates of 6%. The bylaw is attached to this report for Council’s consideration of first three readings. Given that Victoria Consumer Price Index was 7% for 2022, staff feel that an increase of 6% to the user fee is acceptable in order to maintain the utility’s financial sustainability with rising costs of labour and materials.

Staff will continue to work with WSES towards finalizing the full review of the contract and financial modelling as directed by Council. It’s expected that staff will bring this before Council likely by fall 2023.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Sewer user fees are paid for by the end user, for example a resident or a business. SCRF’s are in effect a connection charge that are paid by a property owner looking to connect to the sewer utility. There is no direct cost to the City associated with an increase to the sewer rates.

Increasing the user fee by a percentage in line with CPI allows the utility to keep up with inflationary pressures and ensure that it remains financially sustainable.

The following chart compares the City’s sewer user fee against area municipalities based on 2020 data:

As can be seen above, Langford’s rates are significantly lower than the average of the other municipalities and staff does not anticipate that this increase will bring us over the average.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

If the current Bylaw No. 1600 Sewer Utility Bylaw is not amended to change the rates from 2022, then those rates would inherently carry forward to 2023.

OPTIONS

Option 1
THAT Council give Sewer Utility Bylaw Amendment No. 6, Bylaw No. 2113, 2023 first, second and third reading.

OR Option 2
THAT Council does not amend Sewer Utility Bylaw No. 1600 at this time.

SUBMITTED BY

Michael Dillabaugh, CPA, CA, Director of Finance

Concurrence:
Donna Petrie, Senior Manager of Business Development and Events
Concurrence:
Yari Nielsen, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities
Concurrence:
Matthew Baldwin, MCIP, RPP, Director of Planning and Subdivision
Concurrence:
Katelyn Balzer, P.Eng., Director of Engineering and Public Works
Concurrence:
Marie Watmough, Deputy Director of Corporate Services
Concurrence: Braden Hutchins, Director of Corporate Services
Concurrence:
Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer

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