1. Hot Topics in Utility Management
July 23, 2019 NCGFOA Conference
Austin Thompson, Project Director

2. EFC GREATEST HITS OF

3. EFC GREATEST HITS OF 2018-2019 NC Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard
Trends in Water and Wastewater Rates ( )
Trends in Water Use ( )
2018 System Development Fees
2018 NC Stormwater Dashboard
2019 Stormwater Report

4. How you pay for it matters.
Dedicated to enhancing the ability of governments and other organizations to provide environmental programs and services in fair, effective, and financially sustainable ways through:
Applied Research
Teaching and Outreach
Program Design and Evaluation
How you pay for it matters.

5. 2019 NC Water and wastewater rates dashboard

8. The Average North Carolinian pays…
2019 Survey Results
The Average North Carolinian pays…
$58.94/month
for 4,000 gallons of water and wastewater, combined.
Accounting for service populations and inside/outside rates.

9. 2019 by the Numbers - Inside Rates
Monthly water base charge
Min non-zero: $3.25
Median: $16.55
Max: $50.00
Monthly wastewater base charge
Min non-zero: $2.00
Median: $18.00
Max: $69.50
Highest volumetric rate per 1,000 gallons at 4,000 gallons/month
$13.60/1000 gallons Water $25.00/1000 gallons Wastewater Yadkin County charges
Median percentage of customer bill due to base charge at 4,000
55% Water
51% Wastewater

10. Trends in Pricing Water and Wastewater (2009-2018)

11. What did we do? Rates data from 2009-2018
245 water utilities
201 wastewater utilities
Median Household Income data from US Census
Matched to utility
Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-South Data
Inflation data from
Blog Link

12. Median Water and Wastewater Bills at 4,000 Gallons per Month for Large and Small Utilities, (NLarge=80 & NSmall=146)
The median bill for small utilities is higher, both for water and wastewater at 4 Kgal
Small
Data analyzed by the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Data Sources: SDWIS and NC League of Municipalities and Environmental Finance Center's annual water & wastewater rates surveys. The cohort of utilities is consistent across all years.

13. “Average” Water Bills at 4,000 Gallons per Month, Relative to CPI-South, 2009-2018 (n=226)
Data analyzed by the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Data Sources: SDWIS, BLS, and NC League of Municipalities and Environmental Finance Center's annual water & wastewater rates surveys. The cohort of utilities is consistent across all years.
SDWIS service population values were linearly interpolated for 2014 and 2015 based on values from 2013 and 2016.

14. Key Takeaways
Since 2009, in North Carolina, water and wastewater rates have risen faster than inflation. Based on both the last ten years and last five years of data, rates are expected to continue rising faster than inflation. Median Household Income is rising, but only realigned with inflation in 2017.

15. Trends in Water use ( )

16. Total Residential Usage vs
Total Residential Usage vs. Total Residential Metered Connections For the Sample of 119 Utilities Present in 2002, 2007, 2012, 2016, & 2017
Clarify that this is sample.

17. Has Residential Use Shifted Differently Across the State
Has Residential Use Shifted Differently Across the State? For the Sample of Utilities Present in 2002, 2007, 2012, 2016, & 2017
Total metered usage

18. Actual Number of Fair Bluff Customers - Water

19. Key Takeaways
Changes in residential water use are not uniformly distributed across the state.
In general, total metered use is declining across the state.
This decline is total use is met with an increase in total connections, but we know not all utilities are growing.
Declines in use mean something very different for Raleigh than they do for Fair Bluff.
Copy this from most recent presentation

20. 2018 system development fees report

21. What are we talking about?
Article 8 authorizes local governments to charge SDFs for water and wastewater service under specific conditions and using an approved method to perform a supporting analysis which determines a maximum cost-justified fee.
Article 8 went into effect for all such fees starting July 1, 2018

22. What did we do? Conducted a survey of local government utilities
Mix of phone calls, web surveys, interviews
Identified 81 utilities charging SDFs following Article 8s guidance
Serving 63% of statewide water utility service population
Assessed calculation method, fee basis, and the actual FY 2019 fees

23. What did we do?
Created a report, published in 2019, that describes the results
Can be found at this link
Took this information and produced a report, available online.

24. Key Results Calculation Method
SDF Calculation Methods-Water
N=57
SDF Calculation Methods-Wastewater
N=51
Talk about the different calculation methods here

25. Key Results Fee Basis

26. Key Results The Fees
There are different patterns between the SDFs for water and wastewater
For water, most of the SDFs tend to fall below $2,000
For wastewater, there is a much more even distribution across all price ranges

27. Key Results Fee Changes
First thing we did was look at how costs changed from the last report…did they increase/decrease/stay the same?

28. Key Results Fee Changes
Same results, but for wastewater  interested to see them side by side

29. 2018-2019 NC stormwater Fees dashboard & Results

30. Stormwater Utility Fee Dashboard
This is the third consecutive fiscal year, and the fifth year overall, in which the EFC has published the North Carolina Stormwater Fees and Fee Structures Survey. The EFC has completed surveys in , , , , and There have been 44 stormwater fee structures which have been included in all five of the surveys. Eight of the 44 utilities (18.2 percent) have not raised their fees since we began collecting data, and only one utility has raised fees in every year that we have surveyed.

33. Key Results Produced a report of findings in May 2019
Also includes results from a live poll during a Stormwater Webinar
Link to the report can be found here

34. Number of Stormwater Utilities
Key Results
Year
Number of Stormwater Utilities
Estimated Revenue
2010
56 Municipal
$138,949,938
2017
64 Municipal
3 County
$208,009,005
$17,269,729
2019
81 Municipal
5 County

35. Key Results
Distribution of Monthly Stormwater Fees for a Residential Property with 3,000 Square Feet of Impervious Surface

36. Key Results
*For a subset of 44 utilities present in all 5 iterations of the stormwater fee survey
18.2% have not raised their fees since we began collecting data, and only one utility has raised fees in every year that we have surveyed.
Of the 36 utilities that have raised fees at least once since 2010, eight have raised them at a rate slower than CPI
36.4% have residential fees at 3,000 square feet that, when adjusted for inflation, are lower today than in 2010

37. Key Takeaways
Most stormwater spending in North Carolina is based primarily on what is feasible with the revenue generated from the existing fee
Utilities are not necessarily basing stormwater utility fees on capital needs
Bullet 2: which is why fees are not growing each year in the survey data.

38. Featuring bonus tracks!
EFC GREATEST HITS OF
Featuring bonus tracks!

39. Guidance for Interlocal Agreements
Currently available at this URL
Condensed version at this URL

40. Guidance for Consolidation
Will be available by the end of the month

41. 2017-2018 NC Utility Management Survey
227 utilities (44 percent), of the 511 invited, participated in the survey.
Examined the relationship between long-term planning and resiliency, as measured by financial stability and fewer regulation violations.

42. Financial Planning

43. Utility Forecasting

44. Current Billing Practices

45. Austin Thompson Thompson@sog.unc.edu 919.962.5795