HomeMy Public PortalAboutExhibit MSD 87- Transcript of Public Hearing- June 26, 2023Page 1
·1· · · · ·IN THE CITY OF BRIDGETON
· · · · · · · ·STATE OF MISSOURI
·2
·3
·4
·5
·6
·7
· · ·ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN SEWER DISTRICT
·8 · · ·RATE COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING
·9
10
11
12
13· · · · ·TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
· · · · · · ·OF THE PUBLIC HEARING
14
15
16
17
· · · · · · ·BRIDGETON CITY HALL
18· · · · ·12355 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD
· · · · · ·BRIDGETON, MISSOURI 63044
19
20
21
· · · · · · · · ·JUNE 26, 2023
22· · · · · · · · ·7:00 P.M.
23
24
25
Exhibit MSD 87
Page 2
·1· · · · · · · · · · ·A P P E A R A N C E S
·2
·3
· · ·For the MSD Rate Commission:
·4
· · · · · · Lou Jearls - Presiding
·5· · · · · Matt Berry
·6
· · ·For St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District:
·7
·8· · · · · Brian Hoeslcher
· · · · · · Executive Director and CEO
·9· · · · · Office of the Executive Director
· · · · · · Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
10· · · · · 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103
· · · · · · 314.768.6260
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22· ·Court Reporter:
23· ·Georgia B. Northway, RPR, CCR
· · ·Missouri CCR #1401
24· ·Lexitas Legal - St. Louis
· · ·711 North Eleventh Street
25· ·St. Louis, Missouri 63101
· · ·(314) 644-2191
Page 3
·1· · · · · · · · · · ·*· · *· · *· · *· · *
·2· · · · · (Starting time of the meeting: 7:00 p.m.)
·3· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· We're going to try to get started
·4· ·here.· We're going to try to start up promptly at 7
·5· ·o'clock.
·6· · · · · Good evening.· I'm glad to see a nice crowd
·7· ·tonight.· I'm Lou Jearls of the Metropolitan St. Louis
·8· ·Sewer District Rate Commission.· I've got a little bit
·9· ·of a script to read you, so don't feel like I'm ignoring
10· ·you too much here.
11· · · · · I will be presiding over this public hearing this
12· ·evening.· Next to me is my fellow commissioner, Ryan
13· ·Berry.
14· · · · · The charter plan of the District was amended by
15· ·the voters in St. Louis City and St. Louis County at a
16· ·general election on November 7, year 2000, and
17· ·established the Rate Commission.
18· · · · · The purpose of the Rate Commission is to review
19· ·and make recommendations to MSD Board of Trustees
20· ·regarding change in wastewater rates, stormwater rates,
21· ·and tax rates proposed by MSD staff.
22· · · · · The Rate Commission seeks to ensure that MSD
23· ·ratepayers and the public in general have a voice in
24· ·MSD's rate-setting process, which is why we're here
25· ·tonight.
Page 4
·1· · · · · Per the charter plan, the Rate Commission is
·2· ·composed of 15 member organizations who collectively
·3· ·represents the broadest possible cross-section of MSD
·4· ·customers in the community it serves.
·5· · · · · The Rate Commission members organizations -- I
·6· ·just remembered, this thing is starting to get hard to
·7· ·read.· There we go.
·8· · · · · The Rate Commission member organizations are
·9· ·selected by MSD's Board of Trustees through a public
10· ·self nomination and selection process set forth in the
11· ·charter.
12· · · · · Each member of the organization serves a six-year
13· ·term and appoints an individual to represent the
14· ·organization on the Rate Commission.
15· · · · · Per the voter-approved changes made to MSD's
16· ·charter in 2000, the Board of Trustees will select
17· ·member organizations so as to ensure a fair
18· ·representation of all users of the District's services;
19· ·and that's in quotes.
20· · · · · Specifically, Rate Commission member
21· ·organizations shall represent commercial and industrial
22· ·users, residential users, and other organizations
23· ·interested in the operation of the District, including
24· ·by way of example, but not by way of a limitation,
25· ·organizations focusing on environmental issues, labor
Page 5
·1· ·issues, social economic issues, community neighborhood
·2· ·organizations, and other nonprofit organizations.
·3· · · · · For a list of the individual Rate Commissioners
·4· ·and organizations they represent, please visit the Rate
·5· ·Commission section of MSD's website, at
·6· ·www.MSDProjectClear.org.
·7· · · · · The Rate Commission received a rate change notice
·8· ·from MSD staff on March 24, 2023 for wastewater rates
·9· ·and stormwater rates and taxes.
10· · · · · Per the charter plan, the Rate Commission must
11· ·issue its report on the proposed rate change notice to
12· ·MSD's Board of Trustees on or before September 5, 2023.
13· ·So the Commission's kind of under a deadline here.
14· · · · · The Rate Commission adopted operational rules
15· ·already and a procedural schedule to conduct these
16· ·proceedings in a timely manner, and with procedural
17· ·fairness to all parties.
18· · · · · Since the Rate Commission notice was received on
19· ·March 24, 2023, the Rate Commission has received many
20· ·testimonies from MSD staff and rate consultants employed
21· ·by the Rate Commission to evaluate MSD's staff proposal.
22· · · · · The parties have also engaged in discovery
23· ·requests.· Documentation of these activities is listed
24· ·on the Rate Commission section of the MSD's website,
25· ·again, at www.MSDProjectClear.org.
Page 6
·1· · · · · Tonight's public hearing is one of 14
·2· ·on-the-record sessions planned for between June 21, 2023
·3· ·and August 7, 2023.
·4· · · · · Any ratepayer who wishes to be heard on the
·5· ·proposed rate change may testify or participate in any
·6· ·of these public hearing hearings -- public sessions.
·7· · · · · The public hearings are publicly noticed via the
·8· ·postings to the Rate Commission section of MSD's
·9· ·website, again, www.MSDProjectClear.org.
10· · · · · These postings contain the time, date, and
11· ·location of each of the public hearings.· As hearings
12· ·are added to the schedule, the same information will be
13· ·added to the postings.
14· · · · · Public hearings are held for the purpose of
15· ·permitting MSD staff to present its wastewater and
16· ·stormwater rate change proposal to the general public,
17· ·and to permit the general public the opportunity to ask
18· ·questions or make comments.
19· · · · · I know this is getting long, but I'll be done in
20· ·a few minutes here.
21· · · · · Those unable to make -- or those unable to not --
22· ·those unable to or not wishing to provide comments at a
23· ·public hearing may provide feedback to the Rate
24· ·Commission via phone or e-mail.· The phone number is
25· ·314-335-2028.· Again, the phone number is 314-335-2028.
Page 7
·1· · · · · The e-mail address is
·2· ·RateCommission@AHCconsulting.com.· Again, the e-mail
·3· ·address is RateCommission@AHCconsulting.com.· A card
·4· ·with this contact information is available as you come
·5· ·in.· This card looks like this.· It's available at the
·6· ·sign-in in front.
·7· · · · · Alternately, staff representing the Rate
·8· ·Commission -- who I will ask to identify themselves
·9· ·shortly -- will also be able to provide that
10· ·information.
11· · · · · Further information how to provide feedback
12· ·outside the public hearings is listed on the Rate
13· ·Commissioner's section of MSD's website, again, at
14· ·www.MSDProjectClear.org.
15· · · · · Our next step tonight is a presentation by MSD
16· ·staff, followed by a public comment period.· Tonight's
17· ·presenter is Brian Hoelscher, MSD CEO and executive
18· ·director.
19· · · · · Before we begin the presentation, I ask that we
20· ·all observe the following housekeeping rules:
21· · · · · Please hold all questions until the comment
22· ·period after the presentation.
23· · · · · If you wish to present testimony, or if you
24· ·expect to have any questions or comments, please sign in
25· ·at the door by which you entered the room.
Page 8
·1· · · · · Speakers will be called upon in the order they
·2· ·have signed up, and each speaker should identify
·3· ·themselves and any organization they represent.
·4· · · · · While not a requirement, we ask that those that
·5· ·are speaking to state their name and address so that we
·6· ·may ensure the associated comments in the record with --
·7· ·the associated comments in the record with the correct
·8· ·speaker.
·9· · · · · If you are representing an organization, please
10· ·provide information about the organization.· If speakers
11· ·wish to remain anonymous, in whole or in part, we
12· ·respect those wishes as well.
13· · · · · Each speaker may have a maximum of ten minutes to
14· ·speak regarding the proposed rate change.
15· · · · · As the presiding officer, I may limit or expand
16· ·speaking time as deemed necessary.· If you have further
17· ·questions regarding bathrooms or any other logistics,
18· ·staff representing the Rate Commission -- staff, please
19· ·raise your hand; that might be able to help if anyone
20· ·has any questions.· On the sides of the room.· Those
21· ·folks can help you if you have any questions.
22· · · · · Finally, if you have not already done so, please
23· ·silence your cell phones.
24· · · · · Are there any questions regarding the procedures
25· ·for this evening?· Seeing none, I'll ask Mr. Hoelscher
Page 9
·1· ·to come up and begin his presentation.
·2· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· Thank you, Commissioner Jearls.
·3· ·So I'm Brian Hoelscher.· I'm the executive director and
·4· ·CEO of MSD.
·5· · · · · Before I start, I want to have everybody who is
·6· ·an MSD staff employee raise their hands.· So they are
·7· ·here.
·8· · · · · If there's something not covered tonight in the
·9· ·presentation of a project-specific type of issue or a
10· ·billing-type issue, you can see these folks.· They're
11· ·here to answer those questions.
12· · · · · I won't be talking about, obviously, specific
13· ·problems in this.· But they're here afterwards in case
14· ·there's something not covered in tonight's presentation
15· ·having to do with current services.
16· · · · · So there's three things I want to talk about
17· ·tonight.· Here we got.· One, I'm going to give you a
18· ·little background on MSD; how we got here, why we exist,
19· ·what our responsibilities are.
20· · · · · Then I'm going to talk about the rate proposal
21· ·and exactly what work is getting done, and why it is
22· ·getting done, and why we're offering these proposals to
23· ·the voters.
24· · · · · And then third, the biggest part of it, I'm going
25· ·to go through the results of the rate proposals and what
Page 10
·1· ·the financial impact would be, depending on how the rate
·2· ·-- depending on the voters decide for us to proceed.
·3· ·And I'll go through those in detail.
·4· · · · · First of all, we have something called A Tale of
·5· ·Two Systems.· It's important to remember that MSD
·6· ·provides two major services; one is wastewater -- we
·7· ·collect the wastewater as soon as it leaves out of your
·8· ·lateral, transport it, pump it, treat it and discharge
·9· ·it into local creeks and streams.· The public pays for
10· ·that through your monthly MSD bill.
11· · · · · The second service has to do with stormwater.· So
12· ·there are -- and those are paid through property taxes.
13· · · · · There's three services you'll hear me talk about.
14· ·One is regulatory; we serve as a regulator to make sure
15· ·we reduce the amount pollutants in stormwater runoff
16· ·that enters the environments.
17· · · · · We operate and maintain the storm sewers, inlets,
18· ·and manholes -- not creeks and streams, the sewers
19· ·themselves.
20· · · · · And then finally, we have the ability to help
21· ·address the flooding and erosion problems that
22· ·continuously have affected the area and starting to
23· ·affect them in a little different way because of climate
24· ·change.
25· · · · · So really quick, Project Clear protects -- the
Page 11
·1· ·purpose of MSD Project Clear is to protect the public
·2· ·health, safety, and water environment by responsibly
·3· ·managing two programs with separate funding sources.
·4· · · · · Again, wastewater is that monthly bill; and I
·5· ·forgot to say, the stormwater is on your property tax at
·6· ·the end of the year.· One for wastewater and one for
·7· ·stormwater.
·8· · · · · The fundings are different in these two, and they
·9· ·are starting to diverge.· And so therefore, there's
10· ·going to be two proposals I'm going to talk about that's
11· ·on the ballot; one for wastewater and one for
12· ·stormwater.· And they are going to be completely
13· ·different.
14· · · · · Talk about the services in wastewater.· That
15· ·includes the cleaning and repair of the existing
16· ·wastewater system -- something which has been causing
17· ·issues -- complying with all environmental regulations,
18· ·and also major new improvements.
19· · · · · The capital program, which is the largest piece
20· ·of the wastewater proposal, is mandated by an agreement
21· ·based on a lawsuit that we received from the Department
22· ·of Justice and EPA, setting a schedule for us to come in
23· ·compliance with the Clean Water Act.
24· · · · · It's not just St. Louis.· Over 200 other
25· ·communities had these kind of lawsuits.· It's the
Page 12
·1· ·strategy the federal government took to make sure there
·2· ·was a date certain that everybody would come in
·3· ·compliance with the Clean Water Act.
·4· · · · · MSD has always been working towards these issues.
·5· ·What has changed is the schedule.· This is a
·6· ·court-approved schedule to complete the work.
·7· · · · · For instance, the capital work that the in the
·8· ·rate proposal for the next four years, 98 percent of the
·9· ·work being proposed is mandated the consent decree
10· ·agreement or is required by other regulatory schedules
11· ·from the federal government.
12· · · · · Stormwater is a little bit different.· So there's
13· ·three things we can do.· One is clean and repair the
14· ·existing storm sewers; those are the manholes, the
15· ·inlets, the storm sewers, the things you see in the
16· ·populated areas.· We have owned those.
17· · · · · We own those, but until 2016, we were not
18· ·receiving revenues to operate and maintain them all.· We
19· ·own them, but no revenues to maintain them.
20· · · · · So everything inside 270, essentially, we could
21· ·operate and maintain to some degree.· Everything outside
22· ·270, we owned; but nobody had ever given MSD any
23· ·revenues to operate and maintain them.
24· · · · · Currently, we have funding to do based on a voter
25· ·approval of a property tax that went into place in 2016.
Page 13
·1· ·So we now can provide that service.
·2· · · · · Compliance with environmental regulations.
·3· ·There's been some form of a two-cent property tax.
·4· ·That's been in place since MSD was formed in 1954.
·5· · · · · It allows us to serve kind of like as a building
·6· ·permit entity to make sure that people follow the
·7· ·appropriate rules to decrease the amount of pollutants
·8· ·and stormwater runoff that enters the creeks and
·9· ·streams.
10· · · · · Finally, the last service, which we don't have
11· ·funding for districtwide, which we can provide, we're
12· ·talking about improvements that don't involve MSD's
13· ·assets.· And that has to do funding for stormwater,
14· ·creek erosion, and flooding.· MSD does not have a
15· ·districtwide resource.
16· · · · · We last put something in front of the voters in
17· ·2019 that would take care of those kind of issues.· The
18· ·voters said no.
19· · · · · We're coming back with some revisions based on
20· ·input from the public we've gotten, and we still would
21· ·like to be considered for that districtwide service.
22· · · · · I'm going to go over what that proposal looks
23· ·like so the voters can decide whether or not we should
24· ·provide that service districtwide.
25· · · · · Wastewater system improvements.· MSD's in the
Page 14
·1· ·midst of a three-decade agreement.· Originally, we had a
·2· ·23-year agreement to be done by 2034.
·3· · · · · Based on some affordability issues that we
·4· ·presented to the EPA, they extended that through 2039
·5· ·that we have to get all of the improvements done on the
·6· ·wastewater side.
·7· · · · · The current value of the proposal is $7.2 billion
·8· ·in 2023 dollars.· You may have heard different numbers.
·9· · · · · We put numbers based on dollars at the time.· So
10· ·when we signed the agreement in 2011, based on 2010
11· ·dollars, it was 4.7 billion; 2021, it was 6.1 billion.
12· · · · · And then because of -- as everybody knows what's
13· ·happening in the economy the last two or three years,
14· ·prior to this rate proposal, we repriced the value of
15· ·the program, based on the recent inflation.· And that's
16· ·where you come to the $7.2 billion.
17· · · · · We have not added anything to the project, and
18· ·the project is currently on budget and schedule.· It's
19· ·just when we're pricing the project.· Right now, that
20· ·number now is in 2023 dollars.
21· · · · · Goals.· One is to reduce the backups in the homes
22· ·and the overflows in the environment.· That's the
23· ·biggest thing we've got.
24· · · · · So when the water -- stormwater was coming in, it
25· ·was causing homes to back up, and it would get into the
Page 15
·1· ·sanitary system.
·2· · · · · Or, based on -- sometimes, prior to MSD being in
·3· ·existence, to prevent that from happening, holes were
·4· ·put into the system.· So when rain came down, it would
·5· ·discharge into creeks and streams instead of backing up
·6· ·homes.
·7· · · · · All those have to be taken care of.· That will
·8· ·improve the water quality and bring will us into
·9· ·compliance with the Clean Water Act.
10· · · · · How do we do that?· One is removing stormwater
11· ·out of the wastewater system where it shouldn't be.· In
12· ·St. Louis, one of the big issues we had at sometime in
13· ·the past, a lot of homes were built with the stormwater
14· ·leaders coming off the roof going into the sanitary
15· ·laterals.
16· · · · · That was causing people to back themselves up, to
17· ·flood the systems.· It was also surcharging the system
18· ·so it dumped into the environment.
19· · · · · We've done a lot of work to try to remove as many
20· ·of those, as well as some oddball inlets that were
21· ·connected to wrong sewer; and we've made a lot of
22· ·progress taking care of that.
23· · · · · We are increasing the capacity, keeping in mind a
24· ·lot of the changes that are happening because of climate
25· ·change -- fortunately, the improvements that we've been
Page 16
·1· ·making on the wastewater system can, as a rule,
·2· ·accommodate those on the wastewater system.· And then
·3· ·eliminate the points where it's going into the rivers.
·4· · · · · So as you can imagine, we have to take water out
·5· ·of the system, make some cistern improvements to make it
·6· ·bigger, and make sure these points were discharged were
·7· ·going into creeks and streams instead of for treatment,
·8· ·and eliminate those.· Those are illegal.· That's the
·9· ·biggest driver on the system.
10· · · · · What progress we've made is here.· Those
11· ·overflows I was talking about, the holes in the system
12· ·that discharged wastewater to the creeks and streams
13· ·when it rains heavily, we've eliminated 84 percent of
14· ·those.
15· · · · · We started at the start of the consent decree
16· ·with about 230 of them.· We've eliminated 84 of those
17· ·overflows.
18· · · · · Building backups are down 25 percent.· We are
19· ·experiencing something at MSD with regard to the problem
20· ·we were initially trying to take care of, which is
21· ·stormwater getting in that shouldn't be in there.
22· · · · · We've actually done much better than 25 percent.
23· ·What has taken over is a lot of the local flooding
24· ·that's being caused by climate change.
25· · · · · That's obviously when homes flood and areas
Page 17
·1· ·flood, the sewer system floods.· And that's causing some
·2· ·of those additional basement backups.
·3· · · · · So right now, we started -- or are underway, 650
·4· ·different projects since 2012 on the wastewater side.
·5· · · · · Stormwater is little different.· We keep getting
·6· ·reported a rising number of stormwater issues for a lot
·7· ·of reasons.
·8· · · · · It's fueled, in some case, by people becoming
·9· ·more aware that we're trying to get some funding.· Folks
10· ·usually won't report problems to us -- if they report,
11· ·we tell them MSD has no funding, they get tired of
12· ·reporting.
13· · · · · Some of those reporting more -- more are being
14· ·caused by climate change.· The problems were already
15· ·more than the natural system or the stormwater systems
16· ·can handle.
17· · · · · They're set for what is a basic form in the past.
18· ·They're not set for the 100 and 500-year storms we've
19· ·been getting.
20· · · · · To give you an idea of what that is, we've
21· ·identified about $700 million-worth of storms prior to
22· ·these really different storms coming up, which are large
23· ·100 and 500-year storms, either covering the area or
24· ·popping up in isolated locations.· Those are some
25· ·additional issues we have to figure out how to address.
Page 18
·1· · · · · This is just a visual description of what they
·2· ·are for the problems with stormwater.· There's flooding,
·3· ·whatever that means.· There's flooding there for a lot
·4· ·of reasons.
·5· · · · · Sometimes it's been flooding just because that's
·6· ·the way the area was built, and there wasn't good
·7· ·drainage put in.· Some of it's being caused by the
·8· ·additional storms.
·9· · · · · And then another big one, especially in areas
10· ·where there isn't flooding but we have the additional
11· ·stormwater, we're talking about creek erosion.
12· · · · · That creek erosion can erode the creek, eat
13· ·properties up, eat homes up in some cases, threaten
14· ·homes that are located along creeks and streams.
15· · · · · So where are the problems.· These are four
16· ·watersheds that you see in our service area.· Beside
17· ·there, beside those are the number of problems we know
18· ·about.
19· · · · · What I really want to point out, if you see the
20· ·pink area, that area has some small taxing districts
21· ·that are legacy from the 1960s, where we're going a
22· ·small amount of the stormwater work because we're
23· ·collecting a separate tax.
24· · · · · What we have found is if you have money to solve
25· ·problems, people are more willing to tell you there's a
Page 19
·1· ·problem, because there's a chance to get it fixed.
·2· · · · · If you look at some of the other areas, the
·3· ·orange area to the north, the -- whatever that color is
·4· ·to the upper left, we have a lot of people tell us they
·5· ·have problems over and over.
·6· · · · · We've just said, there's nothing we can do
·7· ·because we don't have any revenues.· There is no money
·8· ·coming in to solve those types of issues.
·9· · · · · What we suspect is once you start having funding,
10· ·our experience is people start letting us know about
11· ·more issues.· We suspect that's where this will go.
12· · · · · The proposal itself -- I'll go to the Rate
13· ·Commission.· I'm not going to go over this.
14· ·Commissioner Jearls went over some of this, but --
15· ·describing the Rate Commission, when it went into place,
16· ·what its organization looks like.
17· · · · · The big thing is they are here to review MSD's
18· ·proposal.· The whole proposal process looks like this:
19· · · · · So starting in the summer of 2022, MSD staff
20· ·looked at everything that's going on, deciding what are
21· ·we going to present the Rate Commission.
22· · · · · We usually present a rate proposal every four
23· ·years.· The main reason for that is we have a long
24· ·wastewater program that now ends in 2039.
25· · · · · But every four years, we kind of double check in
Page 20
·1· ·with the Rate Commission, saying, okay, we've got
·2· ·funding for the past four years, now we've got funding
·3· ·for the next four years.· Here's where we stand from the
·4· ·previous four years, here's our calculations.
·5· · · · · We now need to determine, are we going to do this
·6· ·by borrowing some money, are we going to do it by just
·7· ·paying cash, how are we going to pay for this?
·8· · · · · It's not optional as to whether or not we do the
·9· ·work.· The work has been mandated by a federal judge and
10· ·the federal government.· The question is, how do we pay
11· ·for it.· That question comes every four years.
12· · · · · Now what doesn't always come is a question about
13· ·stormwater.· Again, we tried four years ago, we're going
14· ·to try again this year to put another proposal out and
15· ·see what the public thinks of this.
16· · · · · And that's to provide creek erosion and flooding
17· ·-- flood revenues to take care of flooding problems
18· ·throughout the entire District.· And I'll mention both
19· ·of those.
20· · · · · So put that proposal together, we presented it to
21· ·them in March.· The Rate Commission will take a look at
22· ·staff proposal and submit to it our Board of Trustees in
23· ·September.
24· · · · · The Board of Trustees will review the
25· ·recommendations of the Rate Commission and decide how to
Page 21
·1· ·move forward and what, if anything, should go on the
·2· ·April 2024 ballot.
·3· · · · · So if I go to the third, or the right-hand side,
·4· ·again, I explained this.· There's two proposals on the
·5· ·wastewater side; how do you want to pay for the next
·6· ·four years.
·7· · · · · We have to do the work; the question is, how do
·8· ·you want to move forward and pay for it.
·9· · · · · Do you want to borrow money?· Which makes it cost
10· ·lets less now, but you have debt service later.· And
11· ·there's a new stormwater service; do you want us to
12· ·provide this or not?· Those will be the two questions.
13· · · · · So the details of the rate proposal.· On the
14· ·stormwater side will be done in this rate proposal.· To
15· ·be equitable, we want to make sure we properly divide up
16· ·with the revenues come in.· So we've taken a look at the
17· ·impervious area on the properties.
18· · · · · Residential customers represent 57 percent of the
19· ·impervious area in our District; impervious area being
20· ·rooftops, driveways, sidewalks, places where water
21· ·doesn't soak into the ground.
22· · · · · So we're making sure the revenues, 57 percent,
23· ·come from those residential customers.
24· · · · · The balance, the 43 percent comes from the
25· ·nonresidential customers.
Page 22
·1· · · · · The reason it's important to understand the
·2· ·difference is the way we collect or revenues from those
·3· ·two classes of customers are a little bit different, and
·4· ·I'll go through those right now.
·5· · · · · For the residential customers, to collect that
·6· ·amount of money, rate change proposals based on the
·7· ·median assessed value in our service area of $176,000
·8· ·for a home.
·9· · · · · If your home's value is 176,000, the new
10· ·stormwater rate would be $25.00 a year.· The rate zero
11· ·is 7.45 cents per hundred-dollar valuation.
12· · · · · That amount is what our surveying says that's the
13· ·amount 50 percent of the public's willing to spend to
14· ·provide a districtwide service.
15· · · · · One of the things to understand about this -- so
16· ·I'm talking about service for folks who have never had
17· ·it before, and in generalities, that's outside of 270 --
18· ·for instance, here in Bridgeton.
19· · · · · This service I'm talking about, the City of
20· ·Bridgeton has never received from MSD.· So this will be
21· ·a brand new charge.
22· · · · · There's other of you who live in between 270 and
23· ·the city boundaries.· As I mentioned before, there's
24· ·some old subdistricts that, early on in the District's
25· ·existence, in the 1960s, they were set up, they were
Page 23
·1· ·collecting revenues anywhere from five and a half cents
·2· ·to ten and a half cents -- I mean eight and a half cents
·3· ·to provide this same service.
·4· · · · · If this fails, right now, the plan is to leave
·5· ·those in place and continue providing the service in
·6· ·those areas between 270 and the city boundaries.
·7· · · · · If this passes, the plan is to step those rates
·8· ·-- those existing tax rates into smaller areas to zero.
·9· ·So you'll basically replace one for the other.
10· · · · · Some folks might pay a little bit more per year,
11· ·some might pay a little bit less for the same service.
12· · · · · For nonresidential customers to pick up their 43
13· ·percent, if you calculate the impervious area, we're
14· ·going to charge those customers $1.05 per thousand
15· ·square feet of impervious area per month.· That's what
16· ·their charge will be.
17· · · · · So in this scenario, for the residential
18· ·customers, it will be on the property tax.· For the
19· ·nonresidential customers, it will be a monthly bill that
20· ·will go to the nonresidential customers.
21· · · · · So what it look like right now, as I indicated
22· ·before, we have about $700 million-worth of problems
23· ·we've identified.
24· · · · · Prior to -- especially with the storms that
25· ·started this past summer, also for the last ten-plus
Page 24
·1· ·years, we've had a lot of locations where little popup
·2· ·100 and 500-year storms will come in and just inundate
·3· ·areas.
·4· · · · · So we know those are more problems beyond the 700
·5· ·million in problems that we've identified.
·6· · · · · We tried to set up the expenditures to try and
·7· ·address at least the start of everything.
·8· · · · · So first of all, MSD is going to take 50 percent
·9· ·of the revenues, which are about $34 million that come
10· ·out of the stormwater expenditure and we're going to
11· ·take all of the problems we know of, and we use a
12· ·benefit-cost analysis.
13· · · · · So we take what's the benefit of a project, are
14· ·we going to keep a house from falling into a creek, or
15· ·are we going to keep a yard from being eroded; what are
16· ·the erosion issues?
17· · · · · We add up all those points, we divide it by the
18· ·cost to do the project, and we get a benefit-cost ratio.
19· · · · · Then districtwide, we will simply start from the
20· ·top of the list and do the ones that are most
21· ·cost-effective and work out way down this list.
22· · · · · That's the plan right now and what we're planning
23· ·on doing with 50 percent of the funds.
24· · · · · 30 percent of the funds will go to the individual
25· ·municipalities, based on population, for them to solve
Page 25
·1· ·whatever stormwater problem they think is most
·2· ·important.
·3· · · · · We've tried this in some of those small taxing
·4· ·districts I mentioned.· It's a very good way to kind
·5· ·bigger versus the smaller problems.· It makes money
·6· ·available to the individual municipalities to take care
·7· ·of stormwater problems that they view as being the most
·8· ·important and the highest priority.
·9· · · · · Next, 10 percent will go to -- and I'm using a
10· ·federal term here, not the term the state uses.· 10
11· ·percent will go to the environmental justice fund for
12· ·projects in environmental justice areas.
13· · · · · So the way that is defined, and this comes from
14· ·information provided by the State of Missouri, they use
15· ·that often to determine how to distribute the grants.
16· · · · · It's North City, North County, North County
17· ·heading west, and a part of South County, just south of
18· ·the city.· Those are justified as environmental justice
19· ·areas.
20· · · · · We're going to take 10 percent of the revenues,
21· ·and we're going to apply that same benefit-cost analysis
22· ·to projects only in those areas.
23· · · · · And that will allow us to address areas that the
24· ·state has determined low income or traditionally
25· ·underserved.· That will allow us to cover those
Page 26
·1· ·projects.
·2· · · · · And then finally, there's 10 percent of the
·3· ·projects are going to a regional advisory committee.
·4· ·Right now, our discussion has been with the Municipal
·5· ·League.
·6· · · · · They consist primarily -- except for the City of
·7· ·St. Louis, who we add in, elected officials from all the
·8· ·areas, what's being missed.· What's the service that
·9· ·really needs to get done.
10· · · · · Because it's recent, there's a couple things we
11· ·talked about; should we be providing money for
12· ·municipalities, to provide them funding to match or help
13· ·out in getting people out of floodplains.
14· · · · · We got a lot of folks who live in floodplains;
15· ·and when we get heavy rains, they get flooded.· We're
16· ·not going to engineer our way out of it; do we want to
17· ·buy them out?
18· · · · · Do we want to get some kind of stormwater
19· ·insurance program, or do we want to do something else,
20· ·some other stormwater problem.
21· · · · · It's the kind of thing where we want to get
22· ·public input, making kind of a regional policy decision.
23· ·What's the way to go with the balance of that 10 percent
24· ·of the funding.
25· · · · · On wastewater, it's our regular operations.· Our
Page 27
·1· ·operations costs are about 30 percent of our annual
·2· ·wastewater budget.· The balance is either the debt
·3· ·service or the cost to build projects required by the
·4· ·consent decree.
·5· · · · · Through to date, as of the end -- when we reach
·6· ·the end of 2024 Fiscal Year, we will have spent 3.1
·7· ·billion towards the total completion.· The amount in
·8· ·this proposal is about 1.7 billion.· And then these from
·9· ·2023 through 2039, about 2.4 billion.
10· · · · · That will have us complete everything that's in
11· ·the consent decree.· And again, that's one of the
12· ·reasons we come back every four years to talk about to
13· ·the Rate Commission.
14· · · · · We will provide two ways of doing this.· We do
15· ·have an alternative that would require the public to
16· ·approve an additional $700 million of bonding authority.
17· ·I'm going to show you what that looks like for rates.
18· · · · · The other option the public has is:· I don't want
19· ·us to borrow money anymore; I want to just pay for it
20· ·now.
21· · · · · And therefore, there's that one set up.
22· ·Remember, we have to do the work.· It's part of a
23· ·federal consent degree, a federal judgment.
24· · · · · The question is, how are we going to pay for it.
25· ·And for wastewater, that's the proposition that will be
Page 28
·1· ·put in front of the voters.
·2· · · · · So for wastewater, if you take a look at the
·3· ·left-hand side, this is what will happen to the average
·4· ·customer.
·5· · · · · Nobody's rate is probably $61.04, or will be
·6· ·$61.04.· For the average customer, what you are billed
·7· ·for is what goes down the drain during the winter
·8· ·months.
·9· · · · · So the proposal, if bonding is approved, are the
10· ·increases you see on the left-hand side; on the first
11· ·years, 7 percent; the second year, 7.6; the third year,
12· ·7.5; and the final year, 6.6 percent.
13· · · · · That's if it is approved for the next four-year
14· ·program to provide the additional bonding authority to
15· ·complete that program.
16· · · · · On the right-hand side is if you say no.· And you
17· ·can imagine, this is just like buying a car.· You buy a
18· ·car, a house or cash; you pay a lot right now, but you
19· ·don't pay the debt service in the outer years.
20· · · · · The right-hand column, if the vote is no, that's
21· ·what the rates will look like.· Now again, these are
22· ·average customers.
23· · · · · Everybody's rate is probably a little different,
24· ·but the percentages can be applied to whatever you're
25· ·currently paying.
Page 29
·1· · · · · A couple things I want to note, that's a little
·2· ·bit different.· First of all, under the average monthly
·3· ·residential bill, we do have customers who live in the
·4· ·City of St. Louis who are not billed for their water
·5· ·usage.
·6· · · · · The water provider bills them based on the
·7· ·attributes of their homes.· Because of the ruling by the
·8· ·Supreme Court in the State of Missouri, we bill
·9· ·wastewater the same way.
10· · · · · So since we don't know how much is used -- again,
11· ·we don't know exactly how much water is used, we do use
12· ·the data that's provided by the water provider.
13· · · · · Every four years, we look and see if there should
14· ·be some adjustment to the volumes we assign to those
15· ·attributes.
16· · · · · This year, we did that study and found that we
17· ·should.· So if you are an MSD wastewater customer in the
18· ·City of St. Louis -- a residential customer -- and you
19· ·have unmetered water service, the change in 2025, if
20· ·there's bonding, instead of a 7 percent increase, there
21· ·will be a .8 percent decrease in whatever your current
22· ·bill is.
23· · · · · And then after that, the increases will follow.
24· ·That's to make a one-time adjustment for a change in the
25· ·estimated water usage that we did for different
Page 30
·1· ·attributes.
·2· · · · · The other thing that's part of the program -- and
·3· ·this is all part of this.· We do offer a customer
·4· ·assistance program.
·5· · · · · The way the system works is for those
·6· ·individuals, based on family members whose annual income
·7· ·comes in at two times or less than the poverty level, we
·8· ·have a program you can sign up for.· Your bill will be
·9· ·cut in half.
10· · · · · There's also a similar one for elderly people
11· ·like myself, who are over -- 62 or over.· If you qualify
12· ·based on the income provisions, if your income is less
13· ·than two and a half times the poverty level, we have the
14· ·same type of program; that the amount you pay will be
15· ·cut in half for the wastewater program.
16· · · · · This is the contact information -- not on this
17· ·one.· So -- and then, if there's any questions or
18· ·comments, I think the Rate Commission can provide
19· ·contact numbers, if there's contacts you want.· Or you
20· ·can ask staff if you have other questions about that.
21· · · · · So Commissioner Jearls, that's the end of my
22· ·mention presentation.
23· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Very good.· Thank you.· Are there
24· ·any folks here that would like to speak concerning this
25· ·-- yes, sir.· Come on up.
Page 31
·1· · · · · AUDIENCE SPEAKER:· I would like to --
·2· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· Excuse me --
·3· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· State your name, address.
·4· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· -- Commissioners.· Commissioners,
·5· ·excuse me.· We do have a sign-in sheet, and we are
·6· ·taking the speakers in the order in which they signed
·7· ·up.
·8· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· I'm sorry.· My fault.· Do we have
·9· ·the signup sheet?
10· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· We do.· The first speaker is
11· ·Jacqueline Brown.
12· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Where's he at?
13· · · · · MS. BROWN:· I'm not a he.· I'm a she.
14· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· You can come on, and again, state
15· ·your name, address, and your concerns.· Just go ahead.
16· ·State from that side.
17· · · · · MS. BROWN:· Good evening.· My name is Jacqueline
18· ·Brown, and I'm from Woodson Terrace, 9849 Guthrie
19· ·Avenue.· And that's Mayor Besmer.
20· · · · · I'm really concerned about this -- about this
21· ·rate increase.· And I'm concerned because over the
22· ·years, MSD has raised -- has gotten these different
23· ·raises, like 2 billion.
24· · · · · And yet, we're listening to what's going to be
25· ·done, and these things haven't ever been done.· And over
Page 32
·1· ·the last year, from the flooding in U-City and the sewer
·2· ·coming back, nothing is being done, but we're giving in
·3· ·more money.
·4· · · · · Our property value -- you know, my property tax
·5· ·is unreal.· Especially -- well, with MSD, with the
·6· ·water, with everything is up, but nothing is being done.
·7· · · · · Everything -- every time this comes up, a way to
·8· ·-- you're going to improve, but it doesn't get improved.
·9· · · · · And I'm concerned about the senior citizens.· I'm
10· ·concerned about the low-income families.
11· · · · · And when he just made the statement about how you
12· ·can apply to be two and a half below the poverty level,
13· ·that doesn't make sense to me.
14· · · · · You know what; that's all I have to say.
15· · · · · MR. WOLF:· I have a question.
16· · · · · MS. BROWN:· Okay.
17· · · · · MR. WOLF:· Do you know of anybody where they got
18· ·flooded and MSD didn't want to pay --
19· · · · · MS. BROWN:· Yes.· I've been --
20· · · · · MR. WOLF:· And they were talking about how they
21· ·wanted to pay?
22· · · · · MS. BROWN:· Yes.· Yes.· Yes.· And I'm, like,
23· ·concerned about the people that live in North County,
24· ·where their homes are falling into the ditch or
25· ·whatever.· And the first thing MSD says, it's not our
Page 33
·1· ·problem.
·2· · · · · MR. WOLF:· Is that the same thing in University
·3· ·City as well?· I'm just guessing.
·4· · · · · MS. BROWN:· Yes.· Yes.· Yes.· And that's my
·5· ·concern.· If things were being done, if things were
·6· ·being handled, I wouldn't have a challenge with this.
·7· · · · · And then -- and we know that these things need to
·8· ·be done, but we wait until, like, now, things are
·9· ·eroding, and you're going to put all this on us.
10· · · · · Like my -- my sewer bill right now is $39.00 a
11· ·month, and it's just one person.· And you using the
12· ·figures, 25 percent and 7 percent.· But bottom line, my
13· ·sewer bill is going to double.
14· · · · · MR. WOLF:· And you didn't get to vote on it.
15· · · · · MS. BROWN:· No.· And I'm not -- I hope what I'm
16· ·saying, it's costing me more to let the poop out than to
17· ·get a drink of water.
18· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· Chairman, can I provide some
19· ·information in clarifications from the presentation?
20· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Yes, Mr. Hoelscher, go ahead.· Do
21· ·you want to do it now?
22· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· Yeah.· If I can, I think, while
23· ·we're here.
24· · · · · So one, if I said two and a half percent less
25· ·than the poverty level, I apologize.· It's two percent
Page 34
·1· ·above, or two and a half percent above.· Anybody below
·2· ·that can qualify for the customer assistance program.
·3· · · · · And this is sometimes the hardest part for folks
·4· ·to understand.· I talked about two proposals here; one
·5· ·for wastewater -- which has nothing to do with
·6· ·University City flooding, which has nothing to do with
·7· ·creek erosion, any of that.
·8· · · · · It has to do with a separate sanitary system.
·9· ·Those are the stormwater services we're asking if the
10· ·public wants us to help provide.· There is no funding
11· ·for that right now.
12· · · · · That's the question we're asking.· So when
13· ·University City flooded, when there's creek erosion up
14· ·in North County, MSD does not collect revenues to take
15· ·care of those issues.
16· · · · · They're not our assets, we're not the floodplain
17· ·managers, we don't own the property, but we do have the
18· ·right -- and probably the right people districtwide to
19· ·collect the funds to determine how to start going after
20· ·those problems, in cooperation with the municipal and
21· ·county partners, who have the management of those
22· ·floodplains.
23· · · · · So that's why you don't see any of that getting
24· ·done, because we haven't collected any money for those
25· ·activities.
Page 35
·1· · · · · We tried in 2008; the supreme court turned us
·2· ·down.· We went in 2019 to the voters; they voted it
·3· ·down.
·4· · · · · We're coming back again to see if you want MSD to
·5· ·be part of that solution.· So those are just something
·6· ·out of the presentation in response to the comments.
·7· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· Commissioners, we now up on the
·8· ·screens the contact information that Mr. Hoelscher
·9· ·referenced in his presentation there for the public to
10· ·see, so they don't have to quickly jot down anything
11· ·based on his verbal presentation.
12· · · · · The next speaker we have is -- signed up is Anton
13· ·Dobinski.
14· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Yes.· My name is Anton Dobinski,
15· ·and I'm calling about a property that I have in
16· ·Olivette.
17· · · · · Some of these questions, comments that I have
18· ·already been pretty well either answered or addressed.
19· · · · · But one of the things that irk me the most is
20· ·having to pay a tax on how big my house is, or how nice
21· ·a car I drive.· I think if you want to put a tax on
22· ·there, it should be a flat tax, and everybody pays the
23· ·same.
24· · · · · In 2012, the sewer bill at that property was
25· ·roughly $14.20 per month.· In present day, it's now
Page 36
·1· ·44.31.· And if I understand you correctly, within four
·2· ·years, that's going to go to about 75.
·3· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· It will go up by whatever
·4· ·percentage I have shown.· Those are average customers.
·5· ·You can use those percentages on your bill.
·6· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Okay.· I guess that's one of the
·7· ·things that irk me the most; is that it's on the
·8· ·property tax, you know, based on how fortunate you may
·9· ·be.
10· · · · · And then I had that there -- there's two taxes on
11· ·there; one for MSD, and one for Deer Creek, and you've
12· ·answered that.· So that's been addressed.
13· · · · · And this tax increase, or rate increase; is this
14· ·forever?· Or when's this project going to be paid for?
15· ·You said '39?
16· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· Do you want me -- I just -- if I
17· ·go up to the microphone, make sure everybody hears.· Do
18· ·you mind if I situate --
19· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Okay.
20· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· So you can stay up.· That's fine
21· ·I just want to make sure.
22· · · · · So for the wastewater, the current end of the
23· ·consent decree is 2039, and we have projects that last
24· ·through then.
25· · · · · So every four years, especially if the public
Page 37
·1· ·decides to do bonding, it will spend up all the money,
·2· ·and we'll have to do the next four-year project somehow.
·3· ·That's why we come back every four years.
·4· · · · · On the stormwater, if stormwater passes, we
·5· ·anticipate -- unless the public asks us differently --
·6· ·that the stormwater rates, those should be sufficient
·7· ·moving forward.
·8· · · · · So you were asking about how long they last.
·9· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Right.· Well, I guess my question
10· ·was after this project is completed or paid for, is that
11· ·tax going to go away?· Or is that going to be dropped?
12· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· So the taxes for stormwater, I
13· ·suspect that will last forever.
14· · · · · The rates themselves, once we get to that period,
15· ·you will have debt service, but the huge project list
16· ·will drop off.
17· · · · · Again, 98 percent of the rate proposal, the work
18· ·we're going is not just regular O and M.· It's in that
19· ·consent decree.
20· · · · · Those projects will drop off -- that level of
21· ·projects will drop off the list and we'll be down to the
22· ·normal operation, maintenance, and renewal of systems.
23· ·So a big, huge chunk of that will go off at the end of
24· ·2039.
25· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Okay.· And I guess I wasn't
Page 38
·1· ·familiar about the Rate Commission.· You said you're
·2· ·independent?
·3· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Yes.· We're neither employees or
·4· ·paid by MSD.
·5· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· So do you perform an audit to see
·6· ·that the numbers that they have come up --
·7· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· We have --
·8· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· -- are accurate and there's --
·9· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· We've hired professionals to look at
10· ·their proposal.
11· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Okay.· So there's not going to be
12· ·anything in there for pension funds or anything like
13· ·that or, is that going to be --
14· · · · · MS. BROWN:· Oh, it's up in there.
15· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Pardon me?
16· · · · · MS. BROWN:· It's up in there.· And they --
17· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· -- health and welfare, bonuses; is
18· ·that included in this proposal?
19· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Brian, do you want to?
20· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· So I mentioned, so it's for all
21· ·the wastewater costs.· So the wastewater costs of
22· ·operations is about 30 percent of our annual
23· ·expenditure.
24· · · · · So 30 percent -- and that's for these next four
25· ·years is for the regular O and M -- operation and
Page 39
·1· ·maintenance -- of the system.
·2· · · · · So in other words, if we didn't have the capital
·3· ·program going on, we didn't have the debt service, we
·4· ·would be spending 30 percent of the money we're
·5· ·proposing this time.
·6· · · · · So that money is in there as well; increases and
·7· ·just O and M costs, inflation, fuel costs, those types
·8· ·of things.
·9· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Who sets those rates?
10· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· They're in this rate proposal.
11· ·Our O and M costs are in the rate proposal we have in
12· ·front of you.
13· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Okay.· Does the general public
14· ·have access to that?· Can I go look at that?
15· · · · · MR. HOELSCHER:· Yeah.· I think all of those
16· ·numbers are in the rate proposal.
17· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· And you can find that online if you
18· ·go to the section.
19· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· Okay.· Okay.· That's pretty much
20· ·-- I think you've addressed all the other things.
21· · · · · Like I said, I didn't know there was a Rate
22· ·Commission that has oversight of this.
23· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· We're here for your benefit.· That's
24· ·right.
25· · · · · MR. DOBINSKI:· All right.· Thank you.
Page 40
·1· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· And Commissioner, as Mr. Dobinski
·2· ·did have a handout, which I'm sure makes it into the
·3· ·record and is conveyed to the rest of the Rate
·4· ·Commission as part of this committee report.
·5· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Very good.
·6· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· Our third speaker and our final
·7· ·speaker that is signed up is Rick Wolf.
·8· · · · · MR. WOLF:· That's me.· I guess my issue that I
·9· ·have with MSD I'm a landlord.· I got a house, and I get
10· ·stuff that's gotten backed up that was their district.
11· · · · · And you know, if you ever tried to get MSD to pay
12· ·for anything, they'll argue and say, hey, it's not our
13· ·fault.· It's somebody else's fault.
14· · · · · I had that happen on a house, and I have used to
15· ·have 25 of these things.· I've got houses where my MSD
16· ·bill is $98.00, $100.
17· · · · · And you know, with me being a landlord, if I had
18· ·to fix a house, and because codes have changed, I had to
19· ·fix it.· Nobody gave me any money.· And you know, I'm
20· ·not being funny, I'm serious.
21· · · · · I may have to move an electronic box or something
22· ·like that.· But what I'm saying to you, MSD has to hold
23· ·some responsibility.· They want us to pay for it.
24· ·That's crap.· And that's and that's how I feel.
25· · · · · I feel these bills are out of control.· They
Page 41
·1· ·don't provide water, they provide sewer.· Well, they
·2· ·should.
·3· · · · · If you go to St. Charles, St. Charles, has -- has
·4· ·their own system.· And they're half the price of what
·5· ·these guys are.· I might be wrong, it might be -- maybe
·6· ·it's not quite half, but they're definitely cheaper that
·7· ·MSD.
·8· · · · · MSD to me -- you shouldn't be paying 98 bucks.
·9· ·98 bucks, this bill -- like this gentleman was
10· ·talking -- and you can talk out of both sides, like we
11· ·got a chance to vote on this?
12· · · · · Somebody set the rate.· I didn't get to vote on
13· ·it.· You didn't get to vote on it.· Those are the facts.
14· ·You got two voices -- either crap or piss.· Those are
15· ·your two choices on voting.
16· · · · · And both of those rates are high.· But you guys
17· ·need to take some responsibility.· And then they talk
18· ·about, okay, there's a fund we might have for flooding
19· ·services, or whatever, your house falls into a ditch,
20· ·whatever.
21· · · · · Well, if they run out of money, they ain't going
22· ·to pay for it.· I'm sorry.· Everything he's already said
23· ·here, we're out of money, we can't pay for it, we can't
24· ·-- you should be responsible for it.
25· · · · · I know when I had to do repairs on a house, if I
Page 42
·1· ·wanted to rent a house, I had to do the utility box,
·2· ·spend 20,000 on a house, I didn't cry to all these
·3· ·people and say, hey, I want money from you.
·4· · · · · You want money from us for stuff you guys should
·5· ·be taking care of, okay?· That's how I feel.· My view
·6· ·hasn't changed.
·7· · · · · $98.00 for an MSD bill, and you guys don't
·8· ·provide water, you don't provide electric, you don't
·9· ·provide cable.
10· · · · · Well, we got these busted pipes; because you guys
11· ·don't take care of your stuff.· That's how I feel.· $98
12· ·bill.· And that's going to go up to what, 120?
13· · · · · I'm done talking.· I'm sorry I got upset, but
14· ·this is just kind of silly.· You give us two choices. I
15· ·never got to look at that and give -- and give an
16· ·opinion.
17· · · · · You're saying, oh, you're doing us a favor.
18· ·That's not a favor.· That's a rape.· I'm sorry, that's
19· ·how I feel.
20· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Thank you for your comments.
21· · · · · MR. LECOMB:· Commissioner, Mr. Wolf is the last
22· ·speaker to had signed up.· And I see no other members of
23· ·the public in the audience.
24· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· And again, I'll ask, is there
25· ·anyone else here who would look to speak on the floor
Page 43
·1· ·about this rate proposal?
·2· · · · · Again, we've these cards.· You can go online and
·3· ·get a lot of information online about what's been going
·4· ·on with the commission, what's been going on with MSD,
·5· ·all the different exhibits, expert witnesses, what have
·6· ·you.· You can get a lot of information.
·7· · · · · Okay.· Are there any other Rate Commission, Rate
·8· ·Commissioners present that have any questions or
·9· ·comments for MSD?
10· · · · · MR. BERRY:· No additional questions.· But I
11· ·appreciate everyone's time tonight in coming out and
12· ·giving your public input.
13· · · · · MR. JEARLS:· The Rate Commission staff will
14· ·please announce those who have requested to speak.
15· ·Those wishing to speak, please remember to state your
16· ·name and address -- we've already gone through all of
17· ·that.
18· · · · · The next public hearing is scheduled for
19· ·tomorrow, Tuesday, June 27 at 5:30 p.m.· The hearing
20· ·will be held at the headquarters of Metropolitan St.
21· ·Louis Sewer District.
22· · · · · The address to MSD's headquarters is 2350 Market
23· ·Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103.· At this time, the
24· ·public hearing is now adjourned.· Thank you.
25· · · · (WHEREIN, the hearing concluded at 7:52 p.m.)
Page 44
·1· · · · · · · · · · CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
·2
· · ·STATE OF MISSOURI· · )
·3· · · · · · · · · · · · ) ss.
· · ·CITY OF BRIDGETON· · )
·4
·5
·6· ·I, Georgia B. Northway, Registered Professional
·7· ·Reporter, a Certified Court Reporter (MO), do hereby
·8· ·certify that the meeting aforementioned was held on the
·9· ·time and in the place previously described.
10
11· ·IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and
12· ·seal.
13
14
15
16
17
18· · · · · · · · · ·____________________________
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'
LEXITAS'