Eastsound Water Board Approves New Rate Structure

— from Paul Kamin for Eastsound Water —

The Eastsound Water Board approved a new rate structure. The new rate structure will be applied to water use starting January 1, 2019.

This decision comes after a year of work by a Rate Structure Committee that included both Board members and general Association members. The newly adopted rate structure was unchanged from what was presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting in December and at four other membership meetings held in January.

The innovative part of the new rate schedule has members 2019 monthly service fees partially based on their 2018 average monthly water use. The more water an account uses in 2018 the higher their 2019 monthly base rate will be. The new rate schedule also eliminates the “base allotment” which has been a part of Eastsound Water Users Association (EWUA) past rate schedule for years.

Under the newly adopted rate schedule members will find:

• That a 10% change in water use will result in a proportional 10% change in your subsequent service fees. This applies whether there is an increase or decrease in your water use.
• That there is a charge associated with each and every gallon of water use. This charge will be exactly the same for all members and all water use levels.
• A membership’s ERUs (equivalent residential units) no longer has any bearing on your service fees.
• Inactive members, those who have an Eastsound Water membership but are not yet connected to the system, will see a decrease from $39/mo/ERU to just $30/mo.
• Under the new rate structure half of the existing commercial and residential accounts will pay less, and half will pay more. Those paying less will be the lowest water users.

Eastsound Water is also exploring a minor change in billing cycle for 2019. Current the billing cycle starts and ends on the 20th of each month. It has been proposed that the cycle be switched to starting and ending on the 1st of each month. This change would align the billing cycle with Eastsound Water’s online EYE ON WATER system, where members can view their hourly, daily, monthly, and annual water use history.

Your Eastsound Water Board approved the new rate structure with the confidence it will equitably distribute the cost of operating the water system amongst all Association members. Members interested in learning more out the newly adopted rate structure, you find previous posts and public presentation in the NEWS section of eastsoundwater.org. As always members are welcome to attend monthly board meetings and provide comment directly to your elected, volunteer Board members.