11-25-13 Common Council Agenda & Packet

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ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF TIIE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 17, ARTICLE 2, OF TIIE SOUTII BEND MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADJUST SEWER RATES AND CHARGES INCREMENTALLY TIIROUGH 2017 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT On June 28, 2010 South Bend enacted a sewer rate adjustment through Ordinance #10019-10 which set rates for the years 2010 through 2013. At this time the 2013 rates in Ordinance #10019-10 apply to South Bend's sewer utility customers. South Bend received a National Pollution Discharge Elimination Permit (NPDES) in conjunction with a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to greatly reduce combined sewage overflow (CSO) events in the St. Joseph River in compliance with the Clean Water Act. The LTCP resulted from a negotiated consent decree to resolve a complaint by EPA and IDEM alleging that South Bend had violated sections of the federal Clean Water Act. South Bend's cost of complying with the LTCP and its NPDES Permit in protecting the St. Joseph River is substantial, and South Bend has prudently planned for this remediation through a 20 year environmental infrastructure improvement and replacement process. The cost of river protection through improvements to the sewage utility's infrastructure is financed through sewer rates, and South Bend's current rates are inadequate to cover total EPA mandated changes to the City's sewage treatment system, as recognized in Ordinance #10019-10. Additionally, South Bend's basic costs of operation and maintenance of its sewer utility have increased despite innovative cost savings programs initiated by the City's Environmental Services Department. The sewer rates which have been in effect for the past four years were implemented on an incremental basis to correspond with projected near future increased costs of Clean Water Act remediation, and the expected increased costs of general operation and maintenance over a four year period. The additional income to the utility will pay for improvements to separate sewers, to reduce sewage overflows to basements, and to increase capacity of the Wastewater Treatment Plant. This incremental approach to maintaining a fiscally sound sewer utility capable of complying with South Bend's federal NPDES Permit should be continued for the next four years to avert potential double digit rate hikes in the near future. The rates set forth in this ordinance remain highly competitive with those of similarly situated Indiana cities.