It looks like volumetric billing is at least two or three years away for much of the Sunshine Coast's residential public water users.
At the July 11 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) committee of the whole meeting, Gibsons area director Silas White proposed skipping trial runs and going to full implementation as soon as possible but the committee opted to remain with staff’s proposal, recommending the development of options for a comprehensive volumetric rate structure. (Gibsons has its own water system, which has used volumetric billing for more than a decade.)
Acting chief administrative officer (CAO) Tina Perreault stated at the meeting that she was “confident that staff will have a decision tool in front of the board in September” to put a considered rate structure in place.
The committee also gave its OK for mock billing for the North and South Pender Harbour water services in 2025 and in 2026 for the entire region's water service. The committee’s recommendation also supported a transition to live volumetric billing for North and South Pender water services in 2026 and for other regional systems a year later. The committee’s calls are slated to be on the agenda for the July 25 board meeting, which is the last one scheduled before the summer break and resumption of regional meetings in September.
Set rates right or have significant variations
Perreault tempered White's enthusiasm to speed things up with explanations of the regulatory and bylaw changes that need to be in place to make changes in how the region charges residential clients for water.
Moving from the current practice of annual flat rates for residential users will require additional staff resources and potential use of contractors, according to the acting CAO. She noted that the SCRD already does metered billing for business and industry and the metering of all residential properties on SCRD water systems is not slated to be completed until 2025.
She stressed the need to have the policy discussions at board and any changes to regulations drafted by the end of the year to be able to meet staff's recommended timeline. She also noted the board will “want to have [the rates] right or you are going to have significant variations” in order to meet the costs of providing water services.
When it comes to making the change to volumetric water billing, White told his committee counterparts and staff if they were hoping that “everything goes perfect, it won’t."
“In Gibsons there had to be a shift in rates, sometimes rates go up when people conserve,” he said, noting that local governments need a certain amount of cashflow to operate water systems.
Stating there had been “no complaints about water meters in the Town of Gibsons,” it was White's view that metering is now generally accepted by the public and that “it is really important for the board to look at long term results and that there will be an implementation period.”
