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Council approves first reading of ordinance shifting sewer "winter averaging" period
Summary
Finance Director Barbara Lopez presented an ordinance to amend how sewer usage charges are calculated by shifting which months are treated as the water‑consumption period used to compute winter averaging. Council approved the ordinance's first reading and scheduled a second reading at the next meeting.
The Puyallup City Council on Jan. 7 moved the first reading of an ordinance that changes the dates used to compute the city's winter averaging method for sewer charges, a change the finance director said would better match customers' seasonal water use and reduce sewer charges tied to irrigation and other high‑summer water uses.
Barbara Lopez, finance director, explained the current approach and the proposed change. "Basically, what we do is we take certain months, November, December, through May 31st, and we figure out what your average is of water consumption during those more non high use months, and then that's what we use for your sewer charges during the spring summer when you're doing all the pressure washing and irrigating and those sorts of things," Lopez said. The ordinance would reassign which months are counted as the winter/actual‑consumption months so that spring pressure washing and early irrigation would more likely be covered by the winter average rather than charged at actual consumption.
Why it matters: Under current code, sewer charges are computed from water use during a specified "winter" period to avoid billing sewer based on water used for pools, irrigation and similar activities that do not enter the sewer system. The proposed shift changes the six‑month split so customers who do pressure washing or early irrigation are less likely to see inflated sewer bills.
Fiscal and process details: Lopez estimated the change would reduce sewer revenues by about $30,000 to $40,000 against roughly $16 million in utility revenues; staff said the change would not materially affect planned capital projects in the utility rate study. The council conducted the ordinance's first reading and the mayor noted the second reading will return at the next meeting before final adoption.
Council action: Councilmember Johnson moved to pass the ordinance as stated; a second was recorded and the council voted by voice in favor. The ordinance proceeds to a second reading for final consideration.
Implementation note: Staff said this is not an optional program for customers; it is a change in the municipal code that will become effective if and when the council adopts the ordinance after the second reading.
