St. Charles Parish committee reviews proposed water-rate changes, meter fees and deposits

A legislative committee of St. Charles Parish on Dec. 2 reviewed proposed changes to water billing that would tie meter installation charges to actual procurement bids, update billing tiers and adjust several fees, but committee members deferred a final vote and agreed to introduce the ordinance with clarifying language at the next council meeting.

The proposed ordinance (file 20240407) would: (1) make meter installation charges equal the cost listed in the parish's automated water meter bid as published by the St. Charles Parish procurement office (with those meter installation charges adjusted biannually); (2) update residential billing tiers (moving the lowest tier from 0'to 6,000 gallons to 0'to 8,000 gallons); (3) raise the reconnection fee from $30 to $50; and (4) revise meter deposit methodology (the department ultimately recommended a single updated flat deposit rather than an annually variable deposit tied to CPI).

Why it matters: the changes are intended to reduce bad debt, make new-service meter installation charges reflect current costs, and ease some monthly bills for a subset of residential customers by expanding the lowest rate tier.

The Department of Water Works told the committee that automated (AMI) meters now used by the parish cost more than older meters. "Right now, we're charging the resident $825, but our cost is currently $1,200 on that," a department speaker said, urging that installation charges be set to recover current bid costs rather than leave the system subsidizing new connections. The proposed ordinance language would publish the installation fees in the Department of Water Works cost analysis and link bid-driven items to the parish procurement notice so the fees can float with procurement results.

The rate table shown to the committee lists the proposed 2025 usage rates as $4.59 per 1,000 gallons for 0'to 8,000 gallons, $6.65 for 8,000'to 10,000 gallons and $8.43 per 1,000 gallons above 10,000; committee presenters emphasized those figures are a baseline that incorporates earlier rates and the CPI-based increase. The parish's CPI cap ordinance limits automatic adjustments to no more than 2.5%; department staff said the 2025 CPI-based increase underlying the proposal is 2.4 percent.

On meter deposits, the department explained the last statutory update was 2015 and that unpaid final balances have left the department carrying significant bad debt. The presentation cited approximately $1,990,000 in outstanding bad debt from prior customers who left unpaid balances; the recommended change would raise the deposit to better align with two months'average usage (rounded) but, after discussion, the department and committee agreed to keep the deposit as a single updated flat figure rather than an annually CPI-adjusted variable at this time.

Committee discussion covered clarity in ordinance drafting and how the changes will appear once the language is integrated into the municipal code. Council members and staff debated whether to remove explicit historic dollar amounts from the ordinance text (which would prevent the ordinance from becoming obviously outdated when rates change) or to keep a specific starting-point table in the amendment so future readers can see the 2025 starting values; the group agreed to add clarifying sentences and return with an amended draft at the next council meeting.

Other technical points discussed: - Meter installation charges would be set from the automated water meter bid and the department's cost analysis and would be adjusted biannually (meter bid) and annually (installation fee). - The department provided a line-item cost analysis showing labor and materials (curb stops, tapping saddles, meter boxes, excavator costs) broken down by meter size; staff said the proposed flat fees are rounded down from the department's full cost calculations. - The rate study presenter, Melanie Caluet of AllSouth, told the committee she deliberately used a conservative 2% rate in the study modeling to leave a small margin under the municipality's 2.5% CPI ceiling.

No formal ordinance vote was recorded at the committee meeting. Committee members directed staff to introduce the ordinance (file 20240407) at the next council meeting and to formally add the agreed clarifying language at that meeting; the committee adjourned without taking final action on the ordinance itself.

The ordinance and supporting materials, including the department's meter cost analysis and Caluet's rate study, were provided to council in the packet; committee members asked staff to ensure the municipal code version visible to the public will show how automatic CPI adjustments operate in conjunction with the ordinance.

Next steps: the ordinance will be introduced to the full Parish Council with additional clarifying language, then returned for public hearing and council action at a later meeting.