HomeMy Public PortalAboutExhibit MSD 85A - MSD Response to Second Discovery Request of the Rate CommissionExhibit MSD 85A
BEFORE THE RATE COMMISSION OF THE
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT
MARCH 30, 2015 SECOND DISCOVERY REQUEST
OF THE RATE COMMISSION
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Response
ISSUE: WASTEWATER AND STORMWATER RATE
CHANGE PROCEEDING
WITNESS: METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT
SPONSORING PARTY: RATE COMMISSION
DATE PREPARED: APRIL 7, 2015
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103
BEFORE THE RATE COMMISSION
OF THE METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT
For Consideration of a Wastewater
and Stormwater Rate Change Proposal
by the Rate Commission of the Metropolitan
St. Louis Sewer District
MARCH 30, 2015 SECOND DISCOVERY REQUEST
OF THE RATE COMMISSION
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Response
Pursuant to §§ 7.280 and 7.290 of the Charter Plan of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer
District (the "Charter Plan"), Operational Rule 3(5) and Procedural Schedule §§ 17 (b)(i) and (ii)
of the Rate Commission of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District ("Rate Commission"), the
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District ("District") thereby responds to the Rate Commission
March 30, 2015 Second Discovery Request for additional information and answers regarding the
Rate Change Notice dated February 26, 2015 (the "Rate Change Notice").
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MARCH 30, 2015 SECOND DISCOVERY REQUEST
OF THE RATE COMMISSION
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Response
1. Commissioner Stein has requested that with respect to each of the three
referenced stormwater collection areas (red, green, and yellow) that the District please describe
and delineate the District's a) current and b) proposed maintenance, repair, replacement, and
improvement responsibilities for the following stormwater collection and conveyance elements:
(i) catch basins; (ii) ditches; (iii) culverts under roadways; (iv) retention basins; (v) storm sewers
in road and street rights of way; (vi) storm sewers in public easements; (vii) river pumping
stations (combined sewer); (viii) intermittent creeks and streams (natural water courses); (ix)
normally flowing creeks, streams, and rivers; and (x) the removal of refuse or obstructions in
natural watercourses.
RESPONSE:
MSD has provided a description of current and proposed maintenance, repair, replacement,
and improvement responsibilities as Exhibit MSD 85B Stormwater Maintenance. Current
maintenance responsibilities align with Appendix I of MSD Ordinance 13466 adopted
August 9, 2012 by the MSD Board. This ordinance is provided as Exhibit MSD 85C
Ordinance 13466.
Proposed maintenance responsibilities will be formulated into a revised "Statement of Policy
for Maintenance of Stormwater Systems" upon approval of a new rate. This policy will then
become part of a future ordinance to be presented to the MSD Board of Trustees for
consideration.
2. Commissioner Stein asks does the District propose to relieve any municipal,
county, or state agency of its current responsibilities for stormwater system (including natural
drainage ways) maintenance, repair, inspection, replacement, or improvement?
If so, please elaborate.
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RESPONSE:
The District does not propose relief to any municipality, county or State Agency for current
responsibilities for stormwater system maintenance. However, under a proposed
maintenance program, MSD would provide the pro -active inspection and removal of
blockages at culvert and bridge entrances. Specifically blockages that cause localized
flooding within the MSD Service area. This is not a service currently being provided to these
entities. This would exclude culverts and bridges owned by Missouri State Highway
Department.
3. Commissioner Stein has requested that the District provide, for the last fiscal year
of the imposition of the impervious fee, (a) the revenue collected system wide; and (b) the
percentage of this revenue collected from governments, schools, religious organizations, non-
profit hospitals, and the other tax-exempt property owners.
RESPONSE:
(a)
FY10
Rate/100
Customer Class Sq. Feet Annual Revenue
Single-family $ 0.14 $ 22,110,860
Single-family (CAP) $ (0.07) (31,725)
Multi -family $ 0.14 3,400,949
Non-residential $ 0.14 17,632,001
Total $ 43,112,085
Note: FY10 was the last full fiscal year for Impervious Area billing.
Billings did continue through period 2 of FY11 (August 2010).
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(b) MSD does not maintain a field identifying tax exempt status on properties in the billing
system. In order to determine the percentage of (impervious fee) revenue collected from
governments, schools, religious organizations, non-profit hospitals, and the other tax-exempt
property owners, a query based on account name was used. Vertex, our billing system provider,
ran a query in which all impervious area fees for FY10 were reported if the name on the account
contained one of the search terms(' identified The results of the query were then reviewed
manually. The manual review eliminated accounts that fit the search criteria but were obviously
not tax exempt. As a result of this analysis, $6.2M or 14% of impervious revenues indicated in
our response to question 3(a) were identified to have come from tax exempt properties. It is
important to understand that the method used to arrive at this answer is not precise, and the
percentage could in reality be either higher or lower than what is indicated.
Footnote:
(1)
The following terms were used as filters in the query.
Airport
Baptist
Basilica
BJC
Cardinal Glennon
Cathedral
Catholic
Chapel
Charity
Church
City of
College
County of
Federal
Fire Station
Government
Mercy
Mosque
Museum
Parish
Park
Police Station
Post office
School District
SSM
St Louis County
State of
Synagogue
Temple
Zoo
Respectfully submitted,
114
Susan M. Myers
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103
Tel: (314) 768-6366
Fax: (314) 768-6279
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned certifies that a copy of the foregoing was sent by electronic transmission
to Janice Fenton, Office Associate Senior, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District; Lisa Stump,
Counsel for the Rate Commission; Brad Goss, Counsel for Intervener Home Builders
Association of St. Louis & Eastern Missouri, and Brandon Neuschafer, Counsel for Intervener
Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers on this 7th day of April, 2015.
Lisa O. Stump, Esq.
Lashly & Baer, P.C.
714 Locust Street
St. Louis, MO 63101
tostump(a lashlvbaer.com
Mr. Brad Goss
Smith Amundsen, LLC
120 South Central Avenue, Suite 700
St. Louis, MO 63105-1794
bgoss(&,salawus.com
Brandon W. Neuschafer
Bryan Cave, LLP
211 N. Broadway, Suite 3600
St. Louis, MO 63102
John.kindschuh@bryancave.com
/t c A
usan M. Myers, General C
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT
2350 Market Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63103
smyers@stlmsd.com
Tel: (314) 768-6366
Fax: (314) 768-6279
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