The Hastings Utilities Advisory Board on Aug. 14 recommended that the City Council approve revisions to the utility fee schedule that lower the customer disconnect fee to $50 and raise several installation and conversion charges for private-requested meter work.

Board members and utility staff said the disconnect fee can be reduced because the city’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows many disconnections to be done remotely. “We are starting to see due to the smart meters that cost come down because we’re getting more and more of these towards turning into just a button push,” Derek (manager) said. Staff proposed lowering the fee from $75 to $50 for the next budget year.

Staff emphasized the increases for underground meter pedestals and certain service conversions are cost-recovery measures, not revenue generators. Kyle, a utility operations staff member, said the city historically subsidized some conversions but actual costs have grown: pedestal material alone now runs about $560, and a minimum two-person crew requires about four hours to install. The board and staff said prior charges (previously $500, raised to $600) still did not cover all materials and labor; staff reported even a $1,000 fee would not fully break even.

For larger or uncommon water tap sizes staff proposed moving to a quote-as-requested approach rather than listing fixed fees. Utility staff said the inventory for oddball tap sizes is aging and turns over infrequently, so those materials will be purchased at market cost and billed accordingly when requested.

Board discussion stressed the city does not intend to profit from these conversions: “We’re not looking to make any money off of these conversions. Our objective is just to try and break even,” Kyle said. A board member thanked staff for reviewing actual costs and recommended the city adopt the changes so customer charges match installation expense.

The board made a formal recommendation to forward the proposed fee schedule to the City Council. The motion carried with recorded “yes” votes from Heitzman, Himji, Mieske and Kohl’s.

The recommended changes will appear in the city’s fee schedule packet for council review; staff said many other fees in the unified schedule are unchanged this year.

Staff contact: Derek (manager) and Kyle (operations) are handling implementation details and will provide final cost breakdowns to the City Council when the ordinance is transmitted.