HomeMy WebLinkAbout145 - 12/20/2022 - AMENDING CHAPTER 26 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS TO EXTEND AND CLARIFY THE WATER ANNUAL AORDINANCE NO.145,2022
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING CHAPTER 26 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
TO EXTEND AND CLARIFY THE WATER ANNUAL ALLOTMENT
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
WHEREAS,the City owns and operates Fort Collins Utilities,including a water utility that
provides treated water service to customers pursuant to the City Code and other applicable law,
rules,and regulations;and
WHEREAS,water service permits are issued to customers of the water utility for either
residential service or nonresidential service,which nonresidential service includes water service
for commercial,irrigation,and other purposes,as indicated in City Code Section 26-149(a);and
WHEREAS,water service permits applied for since March 1,1984 by nonresidential users
are to have received an annual allotment of water,as set forth in City Code Section 26-149(e);and
WHEREAS,as set forth in City Code Section 26-149(f),when a nonresidential user uses
more water than its annual allotment,as determined by monthly billing records in a given calendar
year,an excess water use surcharge in the amount prescribed in City Code Section 26-129 will be
assessed on the volume of water used in excess of the annual allotment;and
WHEREAS,funds acquired from the excess water use surcharge are used to acquire and
develop water supplies,an underlying policy goal of which is to manage and equalize the supplies
and demands for treated water from the water utility;and
WHEREAS,certain customers of the water utility for nonresidential service for irrigation
purposes with annual allotments have experienced challenges with the excess water use surcharge,
in particular,being customers who have and are anticipated to exceed their annual allotments for
current uses and landscaping while employing practices to efficiently use water for irrigation
purposes;and
WHEREAS,some of these customers may be able to reduce the amount of water they use
for irrigation purposes,including by modifying landscapes,but require adequate time to plan and
budget for such projects for their annual planning and budgetary processes,and would benefit from
being able to fund such projects with money that would otherwise be spent on paying excess water
use surcharges;and
WHEREAS,water conservation and efficiency are tools that are used by the water utility
to manage and reduce the demand for treated water,which is beneficial to the water utility and its
ratepayers by,among other reasons,helping to ensure that the demand for treated water does not
exceed supplies,which could result in more shortages and other adverse impacts;and
WHEREAS,the City adopted Ordinance No.50,2019,to enact a program related to annual
water allotments and excess water use surcharges,known as the Allotment Management Program
AMP”),which is set forth in City Code Section 26-129(h);and
WHEREAS,AMP has provided for a temporary waiver of the excess water use surcharge
for certain nonresidential customers and has been beneficial to the water utility and its ratepayers
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by managing and reducing the long-term demand for treated water by such customers through
allowing such customers to spend the money that would have been spent on the excess water use
surcharge on other means to reduce their demand for treated water out into the indefinite future,
thus achieving the same underlying policy goal of the excess water use surcharge of balancing the
supplies and demands for treated water from the water utility;and
WHEREAS,City Code Section 26-129(h)has required that applications to participate in
AMP be filed on or before December31,2022;and
WHEREAS,the City desires to extend AMP to allow for applications to be filed through
December 31,2024,in part,because current analyses indicate that AMP’s long-term benefits to
the water utility and its ratepayers from extending the deadline for two years will outweigh any
short-term reductions in foregone excess water use surcharge revenues or increased WSR funds;
and
WHEREAS,staff of the water utility and the City Manager have recommended to the City
Council that the City Code be amended as described below in order to address the issues described
above.
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT
COLLINS as follows:
Section 1.That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
Section That Section 26-129(h)of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec.26-129.-Schedule D,miscellaneous fees and charges.
The following fees and service charges shall be paid by water users,whether inside or outside the
City limits:
h)Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section or §26-149,the Utilities Executive Director
may waive payment of all or portions of the excess water use surcharge of Subsection (c)(2)
pursuant to this Subsection (h).
1)A customer of the water utility with nonresidential water service seeking such a waiver
shall,on or before December 31,2024,complete and file with the Utilities Executive
Director an application accompanied by any required filing fee as determined by the
Utilities Executive Director.The Utilities Executive Director shall prepare a form of such
application identifying for the applicant all of the necessary information for the Utilities
Executive Director to evaluate the requested waiver.
2)The Utilities Executive Director may,following any appropriate investigations including
requests for additional information from the applicant,waive payment of the excess water
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use surcharge by the applicant if the Utilities Executive Director finds that the following
conditions are met:
a.The application was timely filed and complete;
b.The applicant has not previously executed a written agreement consistent with this
Subsection (h)regarding the same property;
c.The applicant is expected to exceed its annual allotment for its current uses and
landscaping on a participating property when employing practices to efficiently use
water for irrigation purposes without waste;
d.The applicant has an adequate and detailed plan to reduce the use of water for irrigation
purposes for the indefinite future as determined by the Utilities Executive Director,
though the reduction need not reduce the use of water below the annual allotment;
e.The applicant and the Utilities Executive Director have executed a written agreement
consistent with this Subsection (h)setting forth such plan and other related matters,
with such agreement being approved as to form by the City Attorney.
Introduced,considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 6th day of
December,A.D.2022,and to be presente.’~.assage on the 20th day of December,A.D.
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Passed and adopted on final reading this 20th day o I ecember,A.D.2022.-
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