Picking Up The Tab

Each JWC water customer receives a utility bill from his or her city's finance department. The amount you owe for water depends on the number of gallons you used during the billing period. The water bill reflects three different costs:

• the first is the cost to purchase treated Mississippi River water from the City of Minneapolis
• the second is the cost to purchase and maintain the jointly owned JWC infrastructure and to deliver the water to each member city as needed
• the third is the cost each member city incurs to deliver the water to each customer's tap

	2004 - 2008 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

City utility bills also include charges for other services, such as sewer, street lights, storm drainage, and recycling. Utility bill funds are handled as enterprise funds. This means the amount you pay for those utilities covers the entire cost of providing the service, maintenance and repair of each system, and any improvements to the system.

The City is responsible for maintenance and repair of the water system up to the right-of-way line, as well as the water meter itself. The property owner is responsible for maintenance and repair of the water system from the right-of-way line inwards. This includes the service pipe that carries water to the building from the water main service at the street and all plumbing (pipes, fixtures, etc) in or attached to the building. Property owners should occasionally check inside and outside meter readings to make sure there is not a large discrepancy between the two readings.

Water Rates

After several years with no increase, water rates jumped by 156 percent since 1997 and are expected to increase another 32 percent between 2003 and 2007. While Minneapolis continues to provide excellent water, the significant cost of upgrading the Minneapolis Water Works water treatment facility is reflected in the rates JWC customers pay for water. This has prompted the JWC to explore the possibility of an alternative water system instead of continuing to buy water from Minneapolis.

The original 20-year contract for the purchase of water between the City of Minneapolis and the JWC expired in 1991. The JWC is currently buying water under a memorandum of understanding that will expire in December 2003.

Meanwhile, the JWC continues working to contain costs. In late 2001, the City of New Hope finished installing radio read water meters for all of its water customers. The new technology has cut meter reading time by more than two-thirds, allowing New Hope to go to a monthly billing program. Golden Valley completed a similar meter change-out for its commercial customers and began changing all residential meters to radio read in 2002.

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