Our Water System - How It Works

The “Water Metering Act” Colorado Revised Statutes §37-97-103

One of the more significant state regulations impacting our customers has been the Water Metering Act. This act requires public water systems with more than 600 users to provide metered water delivery to its customers. Most water providers placed this financial burden on their customers. However, Fraser sought and received a grant to subsidize the cost of the meter installation project.

Meter Reading & Billing

Quarterly water statements now include information regarding meter reads. Please refer to the overview “How to Read your Utility Statement (PDF)” for assistance in understanding what is shown on the utility bill.

Water Service Fees

The Town operates the Water System as an Enterprise Fund outside the General Budget. It is funded through water service fees and viewed as a business enterprise. All expenses and revenues associated with the service are accounted for within the Water Fund.

As a policy matter, the Town has not always attributed all expenses and revenues associated with producing and delivering water within the Water Fund. In years past, decisions were made to subsidize water expenditures by using funds from the General Fund to pay for some expenses. While this kept water rates lower, it reduced available dollars to address other general functions of the Town and, more importantly, did not provide savings for capital improvement projects.

Expenses

Expenses associated with providing water service include:

• Wages and benefits of employees who operate the system
• Operating costs such as electricity and other supplies necessary for water treatment
• Consulting fees for engineers and water attorneys
• Permitting and testing fees
• Maintenance of infrastructure (flushing hydrants, replacing worn parts, etc.)
• Emergency repairs

Revenue

Revenues within the Water Fund include:

• Customer service fees
• Tap fees associated with new development
• Grants
• Transfers from the General Fund to the Water Fund

Customer Base & Consumption

Our small customer base must fund the water system which has all the components of a larger urban water system over which the costs are shared by a larger customer base.

The Town's current water base rate is $153 per SFE each quarter, with a water consumption rate of $1.50 per 1,000 gallons used. The Town Board annually reviews and establishes the rate based upon the costs of producing and delivering water to customers.

How We Develop Rates

As part of the annual budget process, the Town projects expenses and revenues for the upcoming year. Projected revenues from water service rates are compared against the costs of producing and delivering water to users.

Every rate structure has its challenges. Revenues from service fees should cover expenses associated with providing water service. As we annually evaluate our metered rate structure, we can better evaluate how to charge a more equitable rate for our specific user groups, i.e. commercial, seasonal and full-time customers.

Water Fund

By virtue of being a public utility, every customer of the water system is essentially a partner, or part owner of the system. While the provision of water service is similar to a business, it is not driven by profits or returns. If there were excess revenues over expenditures, they would be maintained within the Water Fund to be available in case of any unforeseen emergencies. Currently, the fund has no such reserves. We are all in this together and must work toward solutions that benefit all of our users.

The System

Whether customers use a minimal amount of water or not, the system always needs to be prepared to serve the maximum amount of users and to provide fire protection flows for a home that may be vacant at the time. Thus, any metered rate structure will include a base rate, or availability of service rate.

The challenge is balancing a rate structure that covers both full-time users and part-time users (our system serves 50% full-time and 50% part-time users). This policy matter will need to be addressed by the Town Board as they evaluate options and ultimately adopt any changes.

Commitment

To provide a safe and reliable supply of quality drinking water at a reasonable cost to customers. Significant funds have been expended over recent years on improvements to the water system, including the following:

• Drilling of a new well, replacement of leaking water mains and associated infrastructure to ensure an adequate supply of water and to minimize potential cross-connection issues.
• Introduction of a water conditioning agent for corrosion control to minimize the effects which metals (leaching from lead and copper from pipes or household fixtures) have on the water system
• Maintaining an Emergency Response Plan
• Installing generators to maintain water operations in emergency situations
• Connection of our two independent water treatment facilities into one system
• Implementation of remote monitoring and security systems at all facilities
• Rehabilitation of production wells to ensure an adequate supply of water

Future Concerns for Our Water System

Town officials work diligently to stay current with pending and proposed legislation that impacts the regulatory standards. These changing standards continue to place additional operational burdens on system operators. 

The result is that as our costs continue to increase (electricity, chemicals for water treatment, additional regulatory requirements, etc.) those increased costs are allocated across our current, rather small, user base.