Pueblo West utilities staff explain $1.50 service‑line repair program and rate components; board raises questions

Pueblo West utilities staff outlined the district’s rate structure and described a new residential service line repair program that appears as a separate $1.50 monthly fee on bills for three‑quarter‑inch and one‑inch residential meters.

Deputy Director of Utilities Administration Jeffrey D. Herrera and Director of Utilities Jim Blaesing described how monthly readiness (availability) charges, consumption tiers and commercial loading surcharges work, and explained that the service line repair program charge was calculated using 2023 repair costs divided among the district’s small‑meter residential customers. Jim Blaesing said the fee “accounts for the labor, the equipment, material, and any outside services such as asphalt, barricading” used when crews repair a service line between the main and the meter.

Staff estimated the program would generate about $252,000 a year based on roughly 14,000 qualifying residential accounts (the calculation was discussed on the record); the charge was described as a district-managed program rather than a commercial insurance policy. Staff said the $1.50 fee is intended to be evaluated annually and adjusted to reflect actual repair costs.

Directors and staff disagreed on legal responsibility for service‑line ownership and repair. Deputy Director Robert Bannum said the rules and regulations place responsibility for the service line from the corporation stop (tap) to the house with the property owner, while other staff comments and previous practice described the district historically performing repairs and sometimes covering costs. Staff acknowledged the difference between written rules and historical practice and said the fee provides a mechanism to fund district repairs when they are performed for residential customers; staff also said commercial customers would continue to be charged directly for repairs to their service lines.

Board members asked for clarity about whether collected funds would be dedicated to the repair program or flow to broader water revenues; staff said the revenue is identified in the water budget and listed under a specific line item (water service line repair) and that the program will be re-evaluated each year.

No formal board vote on a rate ordinance was recorded in the public portion of the transcript; the record shows staff presentation and board discussion and questions.