PUBLIC MEETINGS Water and Sewer Charges

• 10am at the Cooma Council Chambers • 2pm at Jindabyne Memorial Hall

All customers and real estate agents are welcome to attend and will have the opportunity to clarify the charges.

A review of the water and sewer pricing was undertaken soon after amalgamation and very large discrepancies in the water and sewer charges were identified in the three former Councils.

After Council amalgamation in May 2016, it was difficult to harmonise the fees and charges for 2016/17 financial year and the status quo remained for the charges commencing in July 2016.

Clearly, there was no equity in the charges and it was imperative to harmonise the fees and charges regionwide. This task was undertaken in stages due to the very large discrepancies in the charges.

Harmonisation of water charges: In March 2017, a financial plan and a new pricing structure was drawn up for the amalgamated Council. To minimise the impact from large increases, it was decided to stage the introduction of the water and sewer charges. Following a pricing workshop, the administrator approved a new billing structure for the water supply regionwide with “user pays” philosophy. Therefore, in July 2017 there was an increase in the usage charge and a decrease in the access charge. The vacant property access charges which were different rates in the 3 former council areas was also harmonised.

Harmonisation of non-residential sewer charges: In March 2018, a workshop was held with the Councillors to review the 2018/2019 financial plan and the water and sewer pricing. The harmonisation of the sewer pricing was undertaken in July 2018. Letters and invitations to public meetings were sent to the non-residential properties that were impacted from very large increase in access charges.

Proposed 2019/2020 charges: The 2019/2020 fees and charges were on public exhibition with comments closing on 22 May 2019. As the water and sewer usage and access charges have now been harmonised regionwide, the charges that will apply from July 2019 has been increased by CPI only.

NON-RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER’S ACCESS CHARGES AND DOWNSIZING OF WATER METERS The access charges for non-residential properties in Cooma was based on the diameter of connections for water and on usage for sewer. This sewer access charge, based on usage, did not meet the pricing guidelines and was different to the Snowy area which was based on the diameter of connection.

The harmonisation of the non-residential sewer access charges was undertaken in July 2018. To reduce the charge, the customers were given the option of downsizing the connection size with certification from a hydraulic engineer verifying that the downsizing did not compromise the fire fighting capabilities of the premises. This downsizing would have also resulted in a decrease of the non-residential water access charge.

To date eight (8) connections have been downsized at a cost to Council. These customers will have a reduced access charge (based on new connection size) applied to their water and sewer bills. If customers wish to downsize, please contact Council for the application to downsize (an Application fee of $211 will apply). Customers are also requested to contact Council if the downsizing has been completed but the rebate for the reduction in size has not been applied.

STRATA / MULTIUNIT DWELLING / DUAL OCCUPANCIES Apart from the discrepancies in charges, the 3 former Councils had different charging regimes. The issues were as follows: •Reading of parent meters only in the Cooma area. •Reading of parent meter and some child meters undertaken in the Snowy area. •Dual occupancies and multiunit occupancies being charged access charges in the Cooma area (in accordance with best practice pricing) but not in the Snowy and Bombala areas. •50% discount to water and sewer access charges for properties under 35m2 in multiunit single owner occupancies in the Cooma area only. To ensure equity to all customers regionwide, the following was introduced in 2018/19 •Reading of bulk meters only in the Snowy area (similar to the Cooma area) •Dual occupancies to be charged dual access charges in the Snowy area (similar to the Cooma area)

Strata parent meter/child meter readings: Since the introduction of the reading of parent meters only in the Snowy area, several problems were encountered. Properties with Body Corporates set up have not had problems with the reading of the parent meter as they apportion the usage charge to the individual owners.

However, in some instances, the strata title set up by the developer and subsequent sale to different people with no Body Corporate set up has led to problems with the meter readings and the apportionment of usage charges to individual owners.

Based on the above issues and to mitigate the problem with child meters, the following was proposed for 2019/2020: •A child meter reading charge for every child meter that will be read by Council. This charge has been set at $40 per reading. Note: •Child meter reading charges may be eliminated if Council reads the parent meter only and the Body Corporate reads the child meters. •When Council reads the parent meter only, the usage charge as recorded on the parent meter will be sent to the Body Corporate and the access charges will be sent to every individual owner within a strata. •When Council reads the child meters each individual owner will be sent the access charge and the usage charge recorded on the child meter including the child meter reading charge. •Council is only responsible for the maintenance of the parent meter. Replacement of faulty child meters is the owner’s responsibility. Faulty meters will be reported to the owner and if the replacement has not been carried out within 2 weeks, Council will undertake the replacement of the meter. The cost of replacement will be invoiced to the owner.

Dual occupancy / Multiunit occupancy and vacant property Access Charge: The water and sewer pricing guidelines recommend the access charge to be applied to all strata, flats, units and dual occupancies. S552 of the Local Government Act 1993 enables Council to charge access charges for vacant properties for water if it is within 225m of a water main and for sewer if it is within 75m of a sewer main. Please refer Clause 2.2 of Council’s water pricing and billing policy and Council’s sewerage billing and pricing policy regarding the subject charges. These policies are available on Councils website.

Proposed discount on sewer access charges for multiunit properties with area under 35m2 – Amendment to the sewerage pricing and billing policy.

An amendment to the sewerage pricing and billing policy to discount the sewer 20mm access charge by 50% for properties under 35m2 is being proposed. This is a fair discount as the impact on the sewer system from small units is not high. However, the water access charge will not be discounted as all users impact on the peak day demand for water. All customers who qualify for this discount will need to make an application to Council in writing stating the number of units with area under 35m2. The amendment to the policy will be up for public comment in June/July 2019 after which it will be adopted. The following criteria will apply: •All units are legal and considered a habitable residential unit •All units are serviced by one service line/water meter •All units are a studio style accommodation (one living area, separate bathroom, kitchen) and each unit has a floor area of no more than 35m2 measured as the internal area (including any internal dividing walls).