HomeMy Public PortalAboutExhibit MSD 106- Transcript of Public Hearing- July 19, 2023Page 1
·1· ·ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN SEWER DISTRICT
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·3· · ·NORTH COUNTY RECREATION COMPLEX
·4· · · · · · 2577 REDMAN AVENUE
·5· · · · · ·ST. LOUIS, MO 63136
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12· · · ·RATE COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING
13· · · · · · · ·JULY 19, 2023
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Exhibit MSD 106
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·1· · · · · ·APPEARANCES
·2· ·For the MSD Rate Commission:
·3· ·MR. LOU JEARLS
· · ·MS. MICKEY COYLE
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·5· ·For the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer
· · ·District:
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· · ·Mr. Brian Hoelscher
·7· ·Executive Director and CEO
· · ·Office of the Executive Director
·8· ·Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
· · ·2350 Market Street
·9· ·St. Louis, Missouri 63103
· · ·314.768.6260
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11· ·The Court Reporter:
12· ·Ms. Amanda N. Farrar, MO CCR 1358
· · ·LEXITAS LEGAL
13· ·711 North Eleventh Street
· · ·St. Louis, Missouri 63101
14· ·(314)644-2191
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·1· · · · · · · ·(The hearing commenced at 6:02 p.m.)
·2· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· So to begin with, good
·3· ·evening.· I'm Lou Jearls of the Metropolitan
·4· ·St. Louis Sewer District Rate Commission, and I am
·5· ·joined this evening by my fellow commissioner Mickey
·6· ·Coyle.· I will serve as the presiding commissioner
·7· ·for tonight's public hearing.
·8· · · · · · · ·The charter plan for the district was
·9· ·amended by voters in St. Louis City and St. Louis
10· ·County at a general election on November 7th, year
11· ·2000 established the rate commission.· The purpose
12· ·of the rate commission is to review and make
13· ·recommendations to MSD's board of directors or board
14· ·of trustees regarding changes in wastewater rates,
15· ·storm water rates and tax rates, rates proposed by
16· ·MSD staff.
17· · · · · · · ·The rate commission seeks to ensure MSD
18· ·ratepayers and the public in general have a voice in
19· ·that MSD's rate setting process.
20· · · · · · · ·Per the charter plan, the rate
21· ·commission is composed of 15 member organizations
22· ·who collectively represent the broadest possible
23· ·cross section of MSD customers and the community it
24· ·serves.· Rate commission member organizations are
25· ·selected by MSD board of trustees through a public
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·1· ·self-nomination and selection process set forth in
·2· ·the charter.
·3· · · · · · · ·Each member organization serves a
·4· ·six-year term and appoints an individual to
·5· ·represent the organization on the rate commission.
·6· · · · · · · ·Per the voter-approved changes made to
·7· ·MSD's charter in 2000, the board of trustees shall
·8· ·select member organizations so as to ensure a fair
·9· ·representation of all users of the district
10· ·services.· Specifically, rate commission member
11· ·organizations shall represent commercial and
12· ·industrial users, residential users and other
13· ·organizations interested in the operation of the
14· ·district, including by way of example but not by way
15· ·of limitation, organizations focusing on
16· ·environmental issues, labor issues, social economic
17· ·issues, community, neighborhood organizations and
18· ·other nonprofit organizations.· For a list of
19· ·individual rate commissioners and organizations they
20· ·represent, please visit the rate commission section
21· ·of MSD's website at www.MSDprojectclear.org.· And if
22· ·everybody received one of these little cards on the
23· ·way in, it will be handy.
24· · · · · · · ·The rate commission received a rate
25· ·change notice from MSD staff on March 24th, the
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·1· ·year -- this year, 2023, for wastewater rates and
·2· ·storm water rates and taxes.
·3· · · · · · · ·Per the charter plan, the rate
·4· ·commission must issue its report on the proposed
·5· ·rate change notice to the MSD's board of trustees on
·6· ·or before September 5th, 2023.
·7· · · · · · · ·The rate commission adopted operational
·8· ·rules and procedural schedules to conduct these
·9· ·proceedings in a timely manner and with procedural
10· ·fairness to all parties.
11· · · · · · · ·Since the rate change notice was
12· ·received on March 24th, 2023, the rate commission
13· ·has received testimony from MSD's staff and the rate
14· ·consultants employed by the rate commission to
15· ·evaluate MSD's staff proposal.· The parties have
16· ·also engaged in discovery requests and documentation
17· ·of these activities is listed on the rate commission
18· ·section of MSD's website at, again,
19· ·www.MSDprojectclear.org.· There's a lot of
20· ·information at that location.· So take advantage of
21· ·that.
22· · · · · · · ·Tonight's public hearing is one of 14 on
23· ·the record sessions planned between June 21st, 2023
24· ·and August 7th, 2023.· All ratepayers who wish to be
25· ·heard on the proposed rate change may testify or
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·1· ·participate in any of these public hearing sessions.
·2· ·Public hearings are publicly -- publicly noticed via
·3· ·postings to the rate commission section of MSD's
·4· ·website at, again, www.MSDprojectclear.org, and
·5· ·these postings contain the time, date and location
·6· ·of each of the public hearings.· As hearings are
·7· ·added to the schedule, the same information will be
·8· ·posted.
·9· · · · · · · ·Public hearings are held for the purpose
10· ·of permitting MSD staff to present its wastewater
11· ·and storm water rate change proposal to the general
12· ·public and to permit the general public the
13· ·opportunity to ask questions and/or make comments.
14· · · · · · · ·Those unable to or not wishing to
15· ·provide comments at the public hearing may provide
16· ·feedback to the rate commission via phone or email.
17· ·Phone number is (314)335-2028.· Again, the phone
18· ·number 335-2028.· They can also do it by email
19· ·address.· The email address is
20· ·ratecommission@AHCconsulting.com.· Again, the email
21· ·address, if you want to make comments, is at
22· ·ratecommission@AHCconsulting.com.· And there again,
23· ·got a little card here for everyone.· It's got a lot
24· ·of good information.· It tells you where the phone
25· ·number is, the web page is and the email address.
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·1· ·So don't leave without one of those cards.
·2· · · · · · · ·Alternately, staff representing the rate
·3· ·commission, who I will ask to identify themselves
·4· ·shortly, will also be able to provide that
·5· ·information.
·6· · · · · · · ·Further information on how to provide
·7· ·feedback outside of the public hearing is listed on
·8· ·the rate commission section of MSD's website at,
·9· ·again, www.MSDprojectclear.org.
10· · · · · · · ·Our next step tonight is a presentation
11· ·by MSD staff followed by a public comment period.
12· ·Tonight's presenter is Brian Hoelscher, MSD CEO and
13· ·executive director, but before we get to -- to that,
14· ·we have some housekeeping rules.
15· · · · · · · ·First, I want to ask you to observe all
16· ·these rules, all of these.· First, please hold --
17· ·please hold all questions until the comment period
18· ·after the presentation.
19· · · · · · · ·Number two, if you wish to present
20· ·testimony or if you expect to have any questions or
21· ·comments, please sign in at the door by which you
22· ·entered the room.· Speakers will be called upon in
23· ·the order that they have signed up.· Each speaker
24· ·shall identify themselves or should identify
25· ·themselves and any organization they represent.
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·1· ·While that is not a requirement, we ask that those
·2· ·are speaking to state their name and address so that
·3· ·we may ensure we are associating comments in the
·4· ·record with the correct speaker.· If you are
·5· ·representing an organization, please provide
·6· ·information about the organization.· If speakers
·7· ·wish to remain anonymous in whole or in part, we
·8· ·respect those wishes as well.
·9· · · · · · · ·Each speaker may have a maximum of ten
10· ·minutes to speak regarding the proposed rate change.
11· ·As the presiding officer, I may limit or expand
12· ·speaking time as deemed necessary to give everybody
13· ·a fair chance and so that we don't run way into the
14· ·evening.
15· · · · · · · ·If you have any further questions
16· ·regarding bathrooms or any other logistics, staff
17· ·representing the rate commission and those staff
18· ·members representing the rate commission --
19· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· That would be me over here.
20· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· This fellow here can
21· ·help you with those types of questions, where the
22· ·bathroom is and stuff.
23· · · · · · · ·If you have not already done so,
24· ·finally, please silence your cell phones.
25· · · · · · · ·Are there any questions at this point?
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·1· · · · · · · ·Seeing none, I will ask Mr. Hoelscher to
·2· ·please begin his presentation.
·3· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Thank you, Commissioner
·4· ·Jearls.
·5· · · · · · · ·Again, Brian Hoelscher.· I'm the
·6· ·executive director and CEO of MSD.· I'm going to
·7· ·present -- you have a hard copy of this
·8· ·presentation.· I'm going to kind of reference you
·9· ·page by page and we'll -- we'll talk off this and
10· ·you'll be able to see exactly what I'm speaking to.
11· · · · · · · ·So I'm going to the second page which
12· ·has three items on it.· It's what the agenda is
13· ·going to look like.· The first thing I want to talk
14· ·about, a tale of two systems, just explain MSD, what
15· ·it is and what we do in general.· Then I'm going to
16· ·go over the rate commission and the rate proposal
17· ·process so you have some idea what the schedule
18· ·looks like and then specifically what's in the rate
19· ·proposal and what we'll be asking the customers to
20· ·consider in the future.· So I'll go down each one of
21· ·those.
22· · · · · · · ·Prior to my starting, I am going to go
23· ·over the rate proposal.· Oftentimes folks have other
24· ·questions about billing, specific issues to their
25· ·property or homes or -- or other specific things. I
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·1· ·have staff in the back, finance, engineering,
·2· ·operations.· If you have those questions, feel free
·3· ·to ask me, if you wish.· I probably won't have the
·4· ·answer, but we will have people back here who can
·5· ·either answer your question or get an answer back to
·6· ·you.· They will stay as long -- they'll stay as late
·7· ·as everybody else wishes to.· So we will be here
·8· ·after the meeting until we've answered all
·9· ·questions.· So they're here to answer that as well.
10· · · · · · · ·So go past the tale of two slides title
11· ·page and there's one that says a tale of two systems
12· ·with two items.· So MSD protects the public health,
13· ·safety and water environment by managing two
14· ·programs that have separate funding sources.· One is
15· ·for the wastewater system and one is for storm
16· ·water.· They are different.
17· · · · · · · ·Wastewater, primarily because we're
18· ·through a federal requirement by a federal -- based
19· ·on a lawsuit to do certain amount of work, the
20· ·funding -- the funding source there is a little more
21· ·consistent.
22· · · · · · · ·Storm water is different.· There's no
23· ·mandate and it's totally up to the customers as to
24· ·whether or not MSD provides certain services
25· ·depending on whether or not they wish to fund them,
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·1· ·and you'll hear me talk about that as we move
·2· ·forward.
·3· · · · · · · ·Current services.· On the wastewater
·4· ·side we take everything wastewater as it leaves your
·5· ·house and goes out, leaves your lateral from your
·6· ·homes.· We transport it, pump it, treat it and
·7· ·discharge it to local creeks and streams.
·8· · · · · · · ·As part of that, we clean and repair the
·9· ·existing wastewater system, regularly investigate,
10· ·regularly clean, regularly maintain.· We maintain
11· ·compliance with regulatory requirements on how we
12· ·discharge these flows after they're treated making
13· ·sure they meet water quality requirements and a big
14· ·part of it is new improvements, the capital program.
15· ·Those improvements are based on primarily an
16· ·agreement with the federal government, Department of
17· ·Justice, Missouri Coalition for the Environment.
18· ·They sued MSD, just like every large entity has been
19· ·sued, every large city, it's called a consent decree
20· ·and what they're asking us to do is -- MSD has
21· ·always had a goal of meeting the Clean Water Act.
22· ·This consent decree sets a schedule for when we will
23· ·come into compliance and right now that date is by
24· ·2039.
25· · · · · · · ·So excuse me.· To give you a sense of
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·1· ·what drives in the rate proposal for the next four
·2· ·years is a capital program of $1.5 billion, 98
·3· ·percent of that is either mandated by the consent
·4· ·decree or mandated by other regulatory requirements
·5· ·from the state of federal government we had to
·6· ·follow.· There is no -- there's very little
·7· ·discretionary spending to try and do some
·8· ·preventative maintenance on the rest of our
·9· ·facilities.
10· · · · · · · ·Storm water is a little different.
11· ·There's -- oh, so on wastewater I mentioned also
12· ·funding.· Wastewater is funded through your monthly
13· ·wastewater bill.· That's what funds wastewater.
14· · · · · · · ·Storm water is a little different.
15· ·Storm water is funded through property tax.
16· ·Everybody when they get their property tax bill will
17· ·see that at the end of the year.· There's three
18· ·services we can provide.· One is clean and repair
19· ·the existing storm sewers.· We just got the ability
20· ·to do that throughout the district in 2016 when the
21· ·public voted for a rate so that we'd be able to do
22· ·that.· Prior to that, we were able to maintain the
23· ·storm sewers inside 270 to some degree and we owned
24· ·but could not operate and maintain the storm sewer
25· ·systems outside of 270, out in West County, South
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·1· ·County.· That got taken care of in 2016.· So now MSD
·2· ·can maintain the assets it owns, storm sewers,
·3· ·inlets and manholes primarily.· We can maintain
·4· ·those.
·5· · · · · · · ·There's a third service we can provide
·6· ·and that's to assist in the -- in the fixing and the
·7· ·maintenance and repair of storm water problems that
·8· ·don't affect MSD's assets.· So what are not MSD's
·9· ·assets?· Creeks and streams are not MSD's assets.
10· ·They're owned by subdivisions or municipalities or
11· ·local property owners, something like that.· So
12· ·they're not our assets, but we do have the ability
13· ·to raise money and in a regional way go after and
14· ·try and fix some of these problems.· There is no
15· ·funding for those.· In 2019 MSD approached the
16· ·public about providing a funding source so MSD could
17· ·address flooding, creek erosion, that type of stuff.
18· ·The public voted no 52 -- 53/47.· So we took that, a
19· ·lot of public input about what would make the
20· ·program better.· Hopefully we've put that into this
21· ·program.· So we're coming back based on the concerns
22· ·expressed by those members of the public who are
23· ·strongly impacted by storm water.· We're coming back
24· ·with another program to see what the ratepayers
25· ·think of that.
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·1· · · · · · · ·So if you go to waste -- the next page
·2· ·is wastewater system improvements, the goals of the
·3· ·system right now.· We continuously upgrade the cost
·4· ·of the program.· In 2023 dollars it's $7.2 billion
·5· ·that we have to complete from 2011 through 2039.· We
·6· ·have met every deadline.· Every project's been
·7· ·completed and we are currently on or under budget.
·8· ·Things have been going well with regard to the
·9· ·schedule that was given to us by the federal
10· ·government to complete work.· We continuously
11· ·upgrade the cost of the program and put it in
12· ·current dollars.· So it's 7.2 billion now in 2023
13· ·dollars.· Obviously ten years from now with whatever
14· ·inflation does that will look different.· We're not
15· ·spending any more money.· The program hasn't gotten
16· ·more expensive.· It's just we're trying to put it in
17· ·current dollars so that everybody can understand
18· ·what the expenditures are.
19· · · · · · · ·The big one is to reduce backups into
20· ·homes and overflows in the environment that are not
21· ·caused by overland flooding.· They're caused because
22· ·there were inappropriate storm water connections to
23· ·the sanitary sewer system under people's sanitary
24· ·laterals.· We're taking care of those problems.
25· ·That helps improve water quality and keeps us in
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·1· ·compliance with the Clean Water Act.
·2· · · · · · · ·The ways we've done that, I'll go to the
·3· ·second bullet there, first of all, remove water that
·4· ·shouldn't be in the wastewater system.· There were
·5· ·however many years ago inlets on streets that were
·6· ·accidentally connected to the wastewater system
·7· ·instead of the storm water system.· An amazing
·8· ·number of roof downspouts that when the homes were
·9· ·built were connected to the sanitary system and not
10· ·the storm water system.· All these things were
11· ·causing the system to surcharge.· So one of the
12· ·biggest -- the best thing we can do is get that
13· ·storm water off.· That's been really successful.
14· ·The next one is we increased the system capacity
15· ·where needed.· One, because in some cases the system
16· ·was built originally by others and kind of
17· ·development exceeded their capacity.· Also, we have
18· ·had increased impacts because of climate change,
19· ·especially over the last 15 years.· Localized
20· ·flooding can simply flood the system and then it
21· ·causes more issues.
22· · · · · · · ·The bigger one is to eliminate points
23· ·where untreated wastewater spills into rivers and
24· ·streams.· When we started this program in the 1980s
25· ·there were 800 of those.· When we started this
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·1· ·program in 2011, there were 230.· By the end of this
·2· ·calendar year, we'll be down to 30.
·3· · · · · · · ·What these did was, when I had mentioned
·4· ·there's storm water or people had overbuilt for the
·5· ·system, when the sewer started filling up instead of
·6· ·backing up to people's basements, those who owned
·7· ·the system in the past would punch holes in the
·8· ·manholes next to the creek so when the water came up
·9· ·it would dump into the creek instead of filling
10· ·basements.· Well, those are illegal and so we are
11· ·under the task of removing those.· Those are illegal
12· ·and the prime driver of the consent decree.
13· · · · · · · ·Again, we're doing pretty good.· By the
14· ·end of this year we'll have no more of 30 of those
15· ·left throughout the area.· Again, we started
16· ·somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 in the -- in
17· ·the 1980s.
18· · · · · · · ·On the next page, so what does the
19· ·progress look like?· Those separate sewer overflows,
20· ·I mentioned that punched the holes in the side,
21· ·we've eliminated 84 percent of those since 2011, per
22· ·the schedule given to us by the federal government.
23· · · · · · · ·Building backups are only down 25
24· ·percent.· We would like to have had a much better
25· ·number there.· What is happening is climate change
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·1· ·is changing that.· The more overland flooding there
·2· ·is, you -- those who have experienced it, you know
·3· ·the streets fill up, the yards fill up, storm sewers
·4· ·fill up.· The wastewater sewers also fill up.· When
·5· ·homes get flooded, water goes in the homes, goes in
·6· ·the basement and goes into the wastewater system and
·7· ·it starts impacting those.· Even if they're not in
·8· ·the flooded areas, they start seeing this coming up
·9· ·in their basements.· So it's really -- that's having
10· ·a big impact, but we are still down 25 percent.· So
11· ·we are making headway in spite of the climate
12· ·change.· Since 2012 we completed or have underway
13· ·650 different projects.
14· · · · · · · ·On the next page talking on the storm
15· ·water side you see the number of issues that we've
16· ·identified from 2011 to 2022.· There is always a
17· ·change in some of what the storm water problems are.
18· ·Those have gone up since, again, our tracking.· MSD
19· ·really started seeing an impact from climate change
20· ·15 to 20 years ago is when our area started seeing
21· ·and it's gotten worse and, therefore, the number of
22· ·complaints have gone up.· They're more than what the
23· ·natural system can handle and now we see the storm
24· ·sewers are designed to match those natural systems.
25· ·So what happens is you get way more rain than any
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·1· ·kind of system can handle and you get localized
·2· ·overland flooding or overland flooding in the creeks
·3· ·and streams.
·4· · · · · · · ·The next page is just a picture and
·5· ·example of storm water problems.· Storm water is
·6· ·going somewhere and not leaving for a variety of
·7· ·reasons and, again, we collect all the data as to
·8· ·what type of problems exist everywhere.
·9· · · · · · · ·The second thing on the storm water side
10· ·is -- this is the two things we're going to do with
11· ·the capital program is overland -- is overland
12· ·flooding and creek erosion.· Creek erosion has
13· ·always existed.· With climate change it gets worse.
14· ·More water is going down creeks and even if
15· ·properties aren't flooding, that extra water creates
16· ·extra energy and causes additional erosion.· So we
17· ·want to solve those as well.· Remember, for those
18· ·two problems MSD does not have any funding source to
19· ·address it district-wide.· Never have.
20· · · · · · · ·The next page is improvements identified
21· ·by watershed, and these are on the storm water side.
22· ·I -- you got the picture in front of you.· We got
23· ·the number of issues we have identified by the
24· ·various four major watersheds.· The only thing I
25· ·point out is the River Des Peres watershed, the pink
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·1· ·colors seems to have more complaints.· The reason is
·2· ·some legacy small taxing districts from the 1960s
·3· ·exist in those areas where we're able to do a small
·4· ·amount of storm water work.· We -- our experience is
·5· ·when people complain and we can do something, people
·6· ·will keep bringing new issues to us.· Rightly so.
·7· ·We found, for instance, if you're up north or if
·8· ·you're out west or south, people stop complaining
·9· ·when we come to them and say yes, we know you have
10· ·the issue, but there's no money and we will keep
11· ·track of it and if we ever get that resolved, we
12· ·will come to you and we'll start -- we'll start
13· ·working in the area on the storm water problems.
14· · · · · · · ·So that's the number we've got as to the
15· ·number of complaints.· That changes daily and
16· ·those -- those are the way of tracking what the
17· ·issues are.
18· · · · · · · ·So if you go past the title page that
19· ·says rate commission, I'm not going to go through
20· ·this.· Commissioner Jearls did, but, again, the
21· ·website is at the very bottom of that slide.· It's
22· ·on your card.· Again, it's MSD's website.· If you go
23· ·to our main page and look at it, there'll be an area
24· ·just for the rate commission.· All it does is cover
25· ·rate commission issues.
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·1· · · · · · · ·On the next page, what does the rate
·2· ·commission or the whole process's time line look
·3· ·like?· In 2022, summer 2022 staff started putting
·4· ·together a rate proposal that we will present in
·5· ·front of the rate commission, one for wastewater and
·6· ·one for storm water.· This year we presented that
·7· ·rate proposal to the rate commission in March.· By
·8· ·our charter they have until September this year, of
·9· ·2023, to evaluate that staff's proposal, make
10· ·comments, suggest changes and turn their report over
11· ·to our board of trustees.· After September our board
12· ·of trustees will take those recommendations, they'll
13· ·judge them against parameters that are laid out in
14· ·our charter and they will determine how to proceed
15· ·with those recommendations.
16· · · · · · · ·Right now the earliest we can go to the
17· ·poles and right now we think we're going to do that
18· ·is in April 2024 to present two propositions to the
19· ·ratepayers.· One on wastewater.· One on storm water.
20· ·So if you look over, I'd ask you to look over under
21· ·2025.· One will be on wastewater.· The
22· ·proposition -- I'll go over the details in a minute.
23· ·The proposition is for the work that's mandated by
24· ·the federal government regulations for the next four
25· ·years, does the ratepayer want to pay cash for that
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·1· ·or do you want to offer additional bonding capacity
·2· ·to MSD in order to borrow money that will keep rates
·3· ·down in the short term, but, obviously, long term
·4· ·you have to pay interest.· That's the proposition.
·5· ·For those of you who voted before, we do this every
·6· ·four years.· That's the question that's been in
·7· ·front of the ratepayers since 2004 is to which way
·8· ·do you want to pay for this.· We don't have an
·9· ·option whether we do it or not.· It is mandated by
10· ·the federal government either through the consent
11· ·decree or through federal regulations.
12· · · · · · · ·The second one will be storm water.· So
13· ·in 2024 of April, and I'll go over those details
14· ·later in just a minute, the question is do you want
15· ·MSD to collect funds and participate in addressing
16· ·overland flooding and creek erosion throughout the
17· ·area.· The proposition is going to be pretty simple.
18· ·If you vote yes, we'll collect the funds and start
19· ·working on the problem.· If you vote no, MSD cannot
20· ·provide the services because we'll have no funding,
21· ·and that's a proposition that will be put in front
22· ·of the voters.· Same one that was put in front of
23· ·the voters in 2019.
24· · · · · · · ·Turn the page, it says the rate
25· ·proposals, and go to the one after that.· I'm going
Page 22
·1· ·to talk about how the storm water rate proposal was
·2· ·developed.· I'm on the thing that says 2023 storm
·3· ·water rate proposal.· It's the first page after the
·4· ·title page.· It's designed, again, to address
·5· ·flooding and erosion issues.· They've been with MSD
·6· ·a long time and, obviously, there was some changes
·7· ·in the environment that are getting to be more and
·8· ·more.· The proposal is to collect moneys from our
·9· ·residential customers in the form of -- here's the
10· ·page I'm on so that everybody's got it.· It's right
11· ·after the title page.· Does everybody have it?
12· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· Could possibly not be in
13· ·there.
14· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· I don't think I have it.
15· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Okay.· I'll talk because
16· ·most of it -- does everybody have this extra flyer?
17· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Yeah.
18· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· I'm eventually going to
19· ·go to that and that's where the real important data
20· ·is.· So I think you could listen to me and when I
21· ·get there, I'll let you know.
22· · · · · · · ·So the way we're going to do this, the
23· ·amount that needs to be collected from residential
24· ·customers we're going to use property tax the same
25· ·methodology that customer -- residential customers
Page 23
·1· ·pay for storm water -- the other storm water
·2· ·services we provide.
·3· · · · · · · ·For nonresidential customers,
·4· ·commercial, not for profit, we're going to collect
·5· ·it based on the impervious area on their property
·6· ·and they'll get a monthly bill.· What we've done is
·7· ·we've divided the revenue up to be equitable.· So we
·8· ·took the amount of impervious area that was on
·9· ·residential properties which is 57 percent.
10· ·Impervious area is roofs, driveways, places where
11· ·water won't soak into the ground.· The residential
12· ·customers represent 50 percent of that impervious
13· ·area.· The nonresidential represent 43.· So our
14· ·program is set up so that the residential customers
15· ·will provide 57 percent of the revenues and the
16· ·nonresidential will provide 43 percent of the
17· ·revenues, if it's voted in, towards the overall
18· ·program.
19· · · · · · · ·Next page, if you -- if you can see
20· ·what's there, what this is going to look like, and
21· ·this is actually -- the next two pieces are on this
22· ·part of the flyer, which is a little easier to read.
23· ·It says rate commission at the top.· I'll go ahead
24· ·and just talk from it.
25· · · · · · · ·So the proposal consists of two part.
Page 24
·1· ·For the residential customers the rate change
·2· ·proposal is based on a median value for residential
·3· ·properties of $176,000.· So for our service area,
·4· ·which is the City of St. Louis and 90 percent of
·5· ·St. Louis County, the median value is 176,000.
·6· ·That's the person in the middle, the 50th person.
·7· ·What we're proposing is to charge a property tax of
·8· ·7.45 cents for this service.· For that median
·9· ·customer that will be a property tax increase of $25
10· ·per year for a 176,000-dollar home.· If you want to
11· ·take it the other way, so if you double that to
12· ·about 350,000, the increase would be about $50 per
13· ·year.· That's the way that works, but we're using
14· ·the median value as being right in the middle of the
15· ·property value.
16· · · · · · · ·For nonresidential customers they're
17· ·going to be charged a dollar -- $1.05 per 1,000
18· ·square feet of impervious area on their property per
19· ·month.· So they will actually receive a monthly bill
20· ·from MSD for storm water.· We're doing that for a
21· ·lot of reasons, equity and a lot of other reasons,
22· ·but we're changing -- we're going to make it a
23· ·little different, but the residential customers and
24· ·the nonresidential will pay their appropriate
25· ·portion based on impervious area.· We wanted to make
Page 25
·1· ·sure we were fair that way.
·2· · · · · · · ·If you look at the bottom of the chart,
·3· ·how the money's going to be spent, this is a little
·4· ·different than what we proposed before.· Right now
·5· ·we've identified $700 million worth of problems.
·6· ·That was before the storms last summer.· So that
·7· ·number's probably higher.· What we're proposing, the
·8· ·program I just mentioned, that would raise $34
·9· ·million per year to start going after the problems.
10· · · · · · · ·One things I -- one of the things I
11· ·skipped is how did we come up with $25 per year for
12· ·the median household.· Based on our survey, and this
13· ·has stayed pretty consistent, 50 percent of the
14· ·voting public are willing to spend up to $25 per
15· ·year.· So that's what we're going to offer to get
16· ·the program kicked off.
17· · · · · · · ·So how are we going to spend it?· This
18· ·becomes different.· So if you take a look at 50
19· ·percent, 50 percent of it's going to go to the most
20· ·pressing storm water issues that MSD's identified
21· ·throughout its area using a benefit cost evaluation.
22· ·That's the way we do the small taxing districts.· We
23· ·add up the benefits of every project, how many --
24· ·are we going to save a house, are we going to save a
25· ·garage, yard, swimming pool, multiple homes.· We add
Page 26
·1· ·those points up regardless of the value of the
·2· ·property.· They're all the same points.· Divide by
·3· ·the cost to built.· We end up with benefit cost
·4· ·ratio.· We simply do the projects that score best
·5· ·first and work our way down the list.· Fifty percent
·6· ·of the revenues annually will go towards that
·7· ·program.
·8· · · · · · · ·Thirty percent of the revenues are going
·9· ·to go towards grants to the individual
10· ·municipalities.· We started doing this in those
11· ·small taxing districts and was really well received
12· ·by the municipalities, and as we've talked around
13· ·the area to the other municipalities in the
14· ·Municipal League they liked the idea of us providing
15· ·with no local match grants for 30 percent of the
16· ·revenue for them to resolve what they think is the
17· ·most important storm water issue in their
18· ·municipality.· That kind of lets us go at this from
19· ·two ways, a regional view and a local view.
20· · · · · · · ·Ten percent of the revenues we're going
21· ·to do the same benefit cost analysis I described
22· ·earlier, but we're only going to spend the dollars
23· ·in projects that are in environmental justice areas.
24· ·These areas get identified for us by the State of
25· ·Missouri.· We have the data because oftentimes it is
Page 27
·1· ·part of their program and they're trying to give out
·2· ·grants.· Without too much description, a map is in
·3· ·the rate proposal, but the State has identified for
·4· ·environmental justice purposes the north part of the
·5· ·City of St. Louis, North County, North County as you
·6· ·head west of the city for a ways, and then there's
·7· ·an area at the end of South City and South County
·8· ·they've also identified.· So we'll only take the
·9· ·projects that are in those areas and we'll see which
10· ·one ranks higher and we'll do those first, 10
11· ·percent of the dollars.
12· · · · · · · ·Then, finally, the last 10 percent is
13· ·going to a pot to be determined regionally as to
14· ·what is a big problem that we haven't caught with
15· ·everything else we're doing.· Right now we've had
16· ·discussions with the Municipal League.· They seem
17· ·rather receptive to being the entity that will have
18· ·the discussion with us.· We've got 10 percent of our
19· ·revenues.· What is a big problem we really need to
20· ·address?· Not that MSD is recommending this, but for
21· ·example, after what happened last summer, should we
22· ·really concentrate on buying people out of
23· ·floodplains who are continuously flooded and help
24· ·them relocated?· Should the moneys go to increase on
25· ·a yearly basis the amount of moneys that go to local
Page 28
·1· ·municipalities.· Maybe they feel that's a better way
·2· ·to go after the problem.· I don't know what the
·3· ·solution would be.· The idea is to draw input from
·4· ·the community through their elected officials what's
·5· ·the best way to spend this other 10 percent, or do
·6· ·they suggest we just simply put it back in the
·7· ·program.· They may find that to be the best way, but
·8· ·it gives us the option to go with whichever way you
·9· ·wish.
10· · · · · · · ·So that's the storm water funding.
11· ·That's the way that would be spent, 34 million, by
12· ·that 50 percent of the dollars, 30 percent, 10
13· ·percent and 10 percent.
14· · · · · · · ·If you go to -- now I'm going to talk
15· ·about the wastewater proposal a little bit.· I'll
16· ·get to the chart in a minute.· There's one thing I
17· ·want to talk about first on wastewater.· Again,
18· ·Project Clear, the current value of the project, and
19· ·this is the wastewater side, is $7.2 billion in 2023
20· ·dollars.· If you heard in the past thing, we always
21· ·update them based on what is the current value of
22· ·money.· So when we did this in 2011, it was tagged
23· ·as being 4.7 billion because that was what the
24· ·dollar was currently worth.· Okay.· We priced it
25· ·again.· So because of inflation, especially some of
Page 29
·1· ·the recent inflation, we've repriced that so it's
·2· ·currently valued at $7.2 billion.· Same projects.
·3· ·Nothing's gone up overall.· We're currently on
·4· ·schedule.· We're currently within budget.· So we're
·5· ·addressing those, what the next four years of
·6· ·projects are either on regulatory schedule or
·7· ·consent decree schedule.
·8· · · · · · · ·The question that's going to be in front
·9· ·of the public is, again, do you want to pay cash or
10· ·do you want to approve MSD to be able to borrow an
11· ·additional $750 million over the next four years to
12· ·help defray the cost, the immediate cost of the
13· ·program.· That's the question that will go in front
14· ·of the customers.· The results of that are on that
15· ·second -- the back -- the next page of that flyer
16· ·that I mentioned to you.· So we're going to go over
17· ·what this means.
18· · · · · · · ·It says proposed and alternate
19· ·wastewater rates.· So on the left-hand side is the
20· ·impact on rates -- not on rates.· On monthly cost if
21· ·the public approves additional bonding authority.
22· ·So I'm going to explain what these mean.· On the
23· ·right-hand side of that green column you see
24· ·something that says average monthly residential
25· ·bill.· That may not be everybody.· That is the
Page 30
·1· ·average bill, but we put it out there so everybody
·2· ·has some sense of what that value is.
·3· · · · · · · ·The more important part on the left is
·4· ·the yearly change.· So under what we've got
·5· ·proposed, if additional bonding is authorized, the
·6· ·first year will be a 7 percent increase in rates.
·7· ·The second, 7.6 percent.· The third year,
·8· ·7.5 percent, and the last year 6.6 percent.· That's
·9· ·what it would be.· The best way to do this is take
10· ·your current monthly charge, if you multiply it by
11· ·those percentages, you'd see for your particular
12· ·instance what's probably going to happen to your
13· ·charge.· The monthly one, again, is for a group of
14· ·individuals who happen to be typical and that
15· ·doesn't mean everybody and it doesn't even mean
16· ·sometimes the majority of the folks.· So that's what
17· ·would happen if bonding got approved.
18· · · · · · · ·Right-hand side is if bonding is not
19· ·approved, so we're paying for everything with cash.
20· ·So if we do that in the first year, the yearly
21· ·change would be an increase of 35.4 percent.· The
22· ·second year in 2026, 35.1.· In 2027 because of the
23· ·cash flow requirements of the program, it would go
24· ·down 20 percent, and then 2028 it would go up a
25· ·little more than 5 percent.· And on the right-hand
Page 31
·1· ·side you see what the monthly bill would be for a
·2· ·typical customer.· Again, if you really want a
·3· ·better sense of what your situation is, take your
·4· ·current bill, multiply it by those percentages and
·5· ·you can see a pretty good guess as to what the
·6· ·impact on your bill would be.
·7· · · · · · · ·Couple things I want to point out.· MSD
·8· ·bills for metered customers based on your winter
·9· ·water usage.· So whatever you use in the winter we
10· ·assume you use all year long.· We don't want to
11· ·charge you for water you use to water your grass,
12· ·fill a swimming pool, water the flowers, clean the
13· ·car.· We don't want to charge for that.· So we take
14· ·what you use in the winter, we assume you use that
15· ·all 12 months of the year.
16· · · · · · · ·There are some customers who are not
17· ·metered.· These are on the City of St. Louis.· They
18· ·are mostly residential customers.· The way they are
19· ·billed for potable water, for drinking water is
20· ·based on the attributes of their homes, how many
21· ·water -- bathrooms they have, how many bedrooms they
22· ·have, how many other rooms they have, and a flow is
23· ·assigned to them by MSD the same way they're billed
24· ·for potable water from city water.· We're required
25· ·by the constitution to use the same process that the
Page 32
·1· ·water provider provides.· So we are assuming a flow.
·2· · · · · · · ·What we do every four years, we look and
·3· ·see should we do a study, have things changed, are
·4· ·the flows we've assigned to attribute are those
·5· ·accurate.· So we do a study to see if anything's
·6· ·changed.
·7· · · · · · · ·So in the city if you take -- and I'll
·8· ·use just the left-hand column.· If you take a look
·9· ·at those increases, in 2025 instead of a 7 percent
10· ·increase if you're in the city and you're an
11· ·unmetered customer, the first year you will see a
12· ·0.8 percent decrease in your monthly bill.· Then it
13· ·will go up 7.6, 7.5 and 6.6.
14· · · · · · · ·So in case -- I don't know if there's
15· ·anybody here from the city or anybody that's going
16· ·to be -- okay -- watching, there will be that
17· ·change.
18· · · · · · · ·Another point I want to mention is we do
19· ·have a customer assistance program.· We advertise it
20· ·on our site.· We work through a lot of local
21· ·agencies.· What that program does is if an
22· ·individual's income is less than two times the
23· ·poverty level, their rates -- their charge will be
24· ·cut in half.· For folks who are elderly, over 62,
25· ·Marian, or 60?
Page 33
·1· · · · · · · ·MR. GEE:· 62.
·2· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· 62.· So if you're over
·3· ·62 like me and you're elderly, you have the ability
·4· ·to also have your rates decreased if your -- if your
·5· ·income is less than two and a half times the poverty
·6· ·level.· Again, your rates will be cut in half.· If
·7· ·anybody has questions about that, that program,
·8· ·Marian Gee -- Marian, hold your hand up.· If you
·9· ·have any questions about it, you talk to Marian.
10· ·He'll make sure he knows -- he'll tell you how to
11· ·get -- to look at it, see what the program looks
12· ·like.· We are constantly trying to find people to
13· ·try and advertise this.· We really want to use that
14· ·program.· It's really an integral part of this whole
15· ·rate schedule that we have here.
16· · · · · · · ·Let's see.· So the last, I think -- I'm
17· ·not even going to go over it.· The last slide, if we
18· ·were showing slides, was all the contact
19· ·information.· I think Commissioner Jearls has given
20· ·you the cards and all of the contacts you'll need.
21· · · · · · · ·So, Commissioner Jearls, that is the end
22· ·of my presentation.· Thank you.
23· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Thank you, Mr. Hoelscher.
24· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Thank you.· Feel free to
25· ·call us.
Page 34
·1· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Is there anyone here that
·2· ·would like to speak that is not signed up to speak?
·3· ·Go ahead and do that now.
·4· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Is speaking the same as
·5· ·asking a question?
·6· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Yeah, asking questions.
·7· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· I didn't sign up to ask a
·8· ·question, but I might ask one.
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You don't have to stand up.
10· ·Just -- okay.
11· · · · · · · ·Do we have any rate commissioners
12· ·present who have any questions or comments?
13· · · · · · · ·MS. CROYLE:· Just to remember to vote on
14· ·April -- in April when it comes up.
15· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· Look for it.
16· · · · · · · ·Let's see.· If there's anyone that
17· ·wishes to speak that has not already done so --
18· ·okay.· Do we have a list of speakers?
19· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· No one's signed up, but
20· ·given the intimacy of the room as well, you're free
21· ·to take questions or comments.
22· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· So we've got --
23· ·we've got an open floor right now.· So does
24· ·anyone -- let's start with the left-hand side of the
25· ·room.· Is there anyone over here who would like to
Page 35
·1· ·talk?
·2· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Well, a question about the
·3· ·unmetered customers and the ones, well, that you
·4· ·don't want to charge for the --
·5· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Could we have your name?
·6· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Pat King.· I live in the
·7· ·city.
·8· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Pat King, in the City of
·9· ·St. Louis?
10· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· St. Louis.
11· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.
12· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Uh-huh.· So if it's metered,
13· ·how do you forego charging from what's -- what's
14· ·registering on the meter?
15· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So all of our data on
16· ·the individual homes -- and there are homes in the
17· ·city who have meters.
18· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Okay.
19· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So the only way we know
20· ·how to bill you is the data we receive from the
21· ·water company.· That's what Marian receives.· So if
22· ·they give us meter data, we will use that to bill,
23· ·as I said, per the amount of usage.· If they give us
24· ·attribute data, types of homes, we will use that
25· ·bill.· MSD doesn't generate its own database, and
Page 36
·1· ·the city gets it from the city -- city water and the
·2· ·county gets it just from Missouri American and
·3· ·Kirkwood Water.· They provide us the water data.
·4· ·That's the data we have to use to charge for
·5· ·wastewater.
·6· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Okay.
·7· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Does that answer your
·8· ·question?
·9· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Sort of.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.
11· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Oh, if you want a more
12· ·in depth or I missed something, you can ask or --
13· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Well, that's what I'm -- I
14· ·mean, and I know you got the same Ameren, you know,
15· ·we have the summer and winter rate, but I'm saying
16· ·you're going to use more when you're watering your
17· ·grass or during the summer, whatever, you're going
18· ·to use more water during the summer.
19· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So what MSD will do is
20· ·if you're in the city and you are in attributes and
21· ·you get a meter, what we will do is we will ask city
22· ·water for your winter usage, December, January,
23· ·February.
24· · · · · · · ·MR. GEE:· That's correct.
25· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Marian?
Page 37
·1· · · · · · · ·What was your usage then.· We'll take
·2· ·that and we'll use that at the start of the summer.
·3· ·For a full year we'll use what you use for the
·4· ·winter.· We won't measure by meter.· The water
·5· ·company does, but we won't do that.· We'll take that
·6· ·because what we really want to do is try and capture
·7· ·what went down the drain.· Obviously, if you're
·8· ·washing your car, that's not going down the
·9· ·wastewater sewer.· So we'll use the winter usage so
10· ·you don't have to worry about the summer usage
11· ·throwing that -- throwing that off of the meter.
12· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Because I'm mad when somebody
13· ·watering their grass too much.· That gets on my
14· ·nerves.
15· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Yeah, that's one luxury you
16· ·get in the city.
17· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Thank you.
18· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Sure.
19· · · · · · · ·Ma'am?
20· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· I'm unmetered.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You're metered?
22· · · · · · · ·MS. CROYLE:· Unmetered.
23· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Good for you.
24· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Okay.
25· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.
Page 38
·1· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· So I guess --
·2· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· And what's your name again?
·3· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· My name is Peggy Baskin.
·4· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You had to think about it.
·5· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Well, actually, my name is
·6· ·Margaret Baskin, but everybody calls me Peggy, so...
·7· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· What was the last name
·8· ·again?
·9· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Baskin like Baskin-Robbins.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· Thank you.
11· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Not related.
12· · · · · · · ·I think you answered this about how
13· ·the -- the billing is done per residence -- per cost
14· ·or --
15· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Per attribute.
16· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Attribute.
17· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So city water --
18· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Well, explain what an
19· ·attribute is.
20· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Yeah.· City water bills
21· ·you based on how many bathrooms you have, how many
22· ·bedrooms you have, how many other rooms you have.
23· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Right.
24· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· And they assign a charge
25· ·or a flow rate to each one of those.· That's how you
Page 39
·1· ·get your water bill.
·2· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Toilet, sink.
·3· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Okay.
·4· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So MSD does the same
·5· ·thing.· We take those attributes because we have to
·6· ·bill essentially the same way the water company
·7· ·does, and we apply a flow to them based on typical
·8· ·usage and then -- therefore, that's how we bill
·9· ·per -- that's how we come up with a charge per
10· ·attribute, the same way the city does, essentially
11· ·the same way the city does.· The charge isn't the
12· ·same, but that's how we come up with the charge.
13· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· So the typical -- when you
14· ·say typical, is that like just a random?· What's
15· ·typical?
16· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· It's what's typical --
17· ·most of the people fall in a block in the middle
18· ·somewhere.· That's what's typical.
19· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Okay.
20· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· What is most -- most
21· ·common.· Now, the city, since you guys are both with
22· ·the city, right now that 61.04 that you see under
23· ·the average monthly residential bill for 2025, what
24· ·that will be, the city is a little -- where is it?
25· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· So you're metered in the
Page 40
·1· ·city?
·2· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· No.· Unmetered.
·3· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· No.· Unmetered.
·4· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· I'm unmetered.
·5· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You're unmetered?
·6· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Yes.
·7· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· And you're metered?
·8· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· I'm unmetered.
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Both of you.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So it's not the same. I
11· ·think the one thing I want to point out is in 2025
12· ·you see the 7 percent increase for the median
13· ·customer.· If you're in the city and you are
14· ·unmetered, what you're going to see is a 0.8 percent
15· ·decrease.· Your bill will actually go down in 2025.
16· ·That's us making a correction based on a study for
17· ·the flows we charge per those attributes I
18· ·mentioned.· We review that every four years to
19· ·determine if a change needs to be made.
20· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Okay.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So that will be
22· ·different for those who have a unmetered residential
23· ·in the city.
24· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Okay.
25· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· I don't want to take up all
Page 41
·1· ·the questions, talking, but my current bill monthly
·2· ·is at the 2027 rate now.· Is that --
·3· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So, now, remember those
·4· ·rates are for the median customer and probably isn't
·5· ·even reflective really of the city because it's the
·6· ·median for all 450,000 customers we have through the
·7· ·city, and most of our service is through the county.
·8· ·That's where the largest population is.· The city is
·9· ·about 20 percent of our service area.· The rest is
10· ·St. Louis County.· So that's a number that
11· ·represents everybody.· For your particular bill what
12· ·I'd suggest is take what your current value is,
13· ·what's going to happen to that bill is to take a
14· ·look at these monthly increases and apply it to what
15· ·your bill currently is.
16· · · · · · · ·There are people in the city -- the way
17· ·this works out.
18· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Uh-huh.
19· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· There are people in the
20· ·city, if you have relatively few people in a home or
21· ·attribute you're probably paying more per person,
22· ·what you're mentioning.· Usually the complaint we
23· ·hear is we're two people and we've got four
24· ·bathrooms and five bedrooms and we're paying a lot
25· ·of money.
Page 42
·1· · · · · · · ·Also in the city are folks who have a
·2· ·relatively large number of people living in a
·3· ·relatively small home.· So what they're paying per
·4· ·person is less because the method we're required to
·5· ·bill by, if you're unmetered, is the attributes in
·6· ·the home and that's what drives the cost.
·7· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· How big is your --
·8· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· Well, I'm a two-family
·9· ·flat.· So I get -- I get charged for two basements
10· ·or whatever.
11· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You get a larger one.
12· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· I'm a single family, one
13· ·person.
14· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Small house.
15· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Small bungalow, I got one
16· ·bathroom, toilet, you know, but so I'm just trying
17· ·to gauge and you're saying this percentage is the
18· ·increase is going to be on my current bill?
19· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So it will be -- it will
20· ·be on your bill starting with the bill you receive
21· ·in August 2024.
22· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· If it passes.
23· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· If it passes.· If it
24· ·doesn't pass, you will have the 35 percent increase
25· ·that's on the right-hand side.
Page 43
·1· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Oh.
·2· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You don't want that.
·3· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· That's even worse.
·4· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Now, ma'am, if you don't
·5· ·mind, we're getting pretty detailed and my director
·6· ·of finance is slowly creeping towards you.
·7· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Are you the director of
·8· ·finance?
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. GEE:· Yes.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· What I suggest is to
11· ·make sure we understand exactly what's there is talk
12· ·to Marian.· He probably will take a look at your
13· ·situation.· It sounds a little odd and I think he
14· ·may want to take a look and make sure you're getting
15· ·properly billed, make sure the data that we're
16· ·getting from the city water is actually appropriate
17· ·data.· So I'd recommend talking to him and we'll get
18· ·back to you at a later date with regard to your
19· ·bill.
20· · · · · · · ·MS. KING:· Thank you.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Thank you.· That way we can
22· ·hear from anyone else that would like to speak.
23· · · · · · · ·Would you like to --
24· · · · · · · ·MS. BASKIN:· No.· I'm pretty good.
25· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You're good.· Okay.
Page 44
·1· · · · · · · ·Ma'am, not the one in the far back,
·2· ·but --
·3· · · · · · · ·AUDIENCE MEMBER:· No.· I'm good.
·4· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You're good.· Okay.
·5· · · · · · · ·And the one that just showed up, do you
·6· ·have any questions?· You kind of came late.· You
·7· ·missed all the good stuff.
·8· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Make sure --
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· You got all the handouts.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· We'll get her all the
11· ·handouts and everything.
12· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· And make sure you get one
13· ·of these cards and have access to get to the
14· ·website.· Okay.· You'll learn a lot of information
15· ·there.· Do we have any --
16· · · · · · · ·MS. CROYLE:· And you can also go on web
17· ·for the other public hearings, too.
18· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Yes, they do have some
19· ·public hearings.
20· · · · · · · ·MS. CROYLE:· And the transcripts.
21· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· And Facebook.
22· · · · · · · ·MS. CROYLE:· Uh-huh.
23· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Yeah.· So there's a lot of
24· ·information out there.
25· · · · · · · ·Any other questions or comments from
Page 45
·1· ·anyone in the audience?
·2· · · · · · · ·MS. ROSS:· When you put these flyers out
·3· ·earlier, there was some information on there about
·4· ·some people could not come, that transportation
·5· ·could be provided for them.
·6· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· It's online.· I'm pretty
·7· ·sure that information is online now.· Isn't it?
·8· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· It's all online.· It's in
·9· ·the flyer we have at the front as well also.
10· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· So both this flyer as
11· ·well as this presentation are there online.
12· · · · · · · ·MS. CROYLE:· And then there will be
13· ·other meetings that --
14· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· Well, I believe the
15· ·transportation you referenced.
16· · · · · · · ·MS. ROSS:· I just wonder because some of
17· ·our residents, you know, don't like to come out by
18· ·themselves at night.· So I was thinking on that.
19· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· What was your name again?
20· · · · · · · ·MS. ROSS:· I'm Patricia Ross, Mayor of
21· ·City of Velda Village Hills.· And we have some
22· ·residents that don't like to come out at night to do
23· ·things, but I read on there that you had something
24· ·about they can get some transportation to some of
25· ·these places.
Page 46
·1· · · · · · · ·MR. LECOMB:· Yes.· On -- I don't know if
·2· ·it's the flyer you have.· There's another flyer at
·3· ·the front desk.· There's a phone number and on the
·4· ·website there's a phone number.· Give us 24 hours
·5· ·notice.· We'll arrange for those individuals to come
·6· ·to the meeting.· And then in Berkeley at the
·7· ·St. Louis County Health Department building there
·8· ·we're having a meeting.· I believe it's next
·9· ·Thursday at 3 p.m. for during the day for folks who
10· ·would prefer a meeting during the day as well also.
11· · · · · · · ·MS. ROSS:· Thank you.
12· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Yes, ma'am.
13· · · · · · · ·MS. ROSS:· Also I'd like to remind
14· ·everybody that not everybody, either younger people
15· ·or older people, have access to internet or to
16· ·email.· So they're not able to communicate or
17· ·respond in a manner that most people do nowadays,
18· ·because I am not of a age over 60, but my email just
19· ·doesn't always work as well.
20· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· If you grab one of these
21· ·cards, you know, you can -- you can do it by phone.
22· ·You can make -- you can call in and we can take the
23· ·comments that way.· You can always go to the library
24· ·and they have internet and computer connection.· So
25· ·there are two ways you can do it, if that helps.
Page 47
·1· ·Okay.· Any other questions or comments?
·2· · · · · · · ·MSD staff -- could MSD staff members
·3· ·raise their hands.· Anyone here want to ask MSD
·4· ·staff members questions, they'll be hanging around
·5· ·for a little bit.
·6· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· Thank you.
·7· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· As well as --
·8· · · · · · · ·MR. HOELSCHER:· I'll be here.
·9· · · · · · · ·MR. JEARLS:· Okay.· So the next public
10· ·hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, July
11· ·20th, 2023 at 7 p.m.· The hearing will be held in
12· ·the City of Ballwin's council chambers at Ballwin
13· ·City Hall, Ballwin City.· It's located at Number One
14· ·Government Center, Ballwin, Missouri 63011.· And
15· ·with that I want to thank everyone for coming.
16· ·Public hearing is now adjourned.
17· · · · · · · ·(The hearing concluded at 6:54 p.m.)
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·1· · · · · · · · ·CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER
·2
·3· · · · · · ·I, Amanda N. Farrar, MO CCR 1358, a
·4· ·Certified Court Reporter for the State of Missouri,
·5· ·do hereby certify that the foregoing transcript was
·6· ·taken by me to the best of my ability and thereafter
·7· ·reduced to typewriting by me; that I am neither
·8· ·counsel for, related to, nor employed by any of the
·9· ·parties to the action in which this hearing was
10· ·taken, and further that I am not a relative or
11· ·employee of any attorney or counsel employed by the
12· ·parties thereto, nor financially or otherwise
13· ·interested in the outcome of the action.
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16· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·________________________
17· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·Certified Court Reporter
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