CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to drainage services of Seattle Public Utilities; adjusting drainage rates to pass through changes to treatment rates charged by King County; amending Section 21.33.030 of the Seattle Municipal Code to reflect the adjusted rates; and amending Section 21.76.040 of the Seattle Municipal Code to adjust credits to low-income drainage customers.
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WHEREAS, Resolution 31760, adopted on November 13, 2017, adopted the 2018-2023 Strategic Business Plan Update for Seattle Public Utilities, which guides utility investments, service levels, and rate paths through 2023; and
WHEREAS, Seattle Public Utilities' drainage rates are based on the sum of the treatment rate and system rate and are designed to pass through the drainage share of the rates King County charges for its wastewater treatment services as part of the treatment rate applicable to drainage services; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 125686 established drainage rates for 2019 through 2021 based on the then current King County wastewater treatment charge of $45.33; and
WHEREAS, King County Council adopted a new wastewater treatment rate of $47.37 per residential customer equivalent per month effective January 1, 2021, which is an increase of 4.5 percent over the existing treatment rate; and
WHEREAS, the increase in King County treatment rates will increase drainage treatment expense; and
WHEREAS, quarantine measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have lowered Seattle Public Utilities' utilization of treatment services; and
WHEREAS, lower utilization of treatment services is expected to have a larger effect on drainage treatment costs than the increase in the King County treatment rate; and
WHEREAS Seattle Public Utilities expects that adopted 2021 drainage rates are higher than what is necessary to pay for drainage treatment expense, taxes on treatment revenue, discounts to low-income customers, and stormwater facili...
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