Business Impact Statement
Proposed Ordinance Summary
- This will amend Clearwater Code of Ordinances to increase miscellaneous fees related to temporary service deposits, impact fees and miscellaneous user fees such as, special meter readings, turn-on services, meter changes and other special services that benefit a specific customer. These fees have not been updated in several years and are not aligned with the cost of providing these special services. This change increases equity and minimizes rate increases.
Estimate of Economic Impact on Private, For-Profit Businesses in Clearwater
- The city does not expect any direct compliance costs that businesses may reasonably incur if the ordinance is enacted, since the business will either be sent a bill (temporary fire services) or will be charged upfront (in the case of deposits) for services requested.
- There will be no new charges, only some increases to existing charges.
- The city of Clearwater will incur any regulatory charges related to any of the fees within this ordinance.
Good-Faith Estimate of Businesses Likely to be Impacted
Customers That Are Billed a Metered Rate
832 Customers With Fire Detect Service
- Commercial, 468
- Industrial, 5
- Residential, 359
44 Customers with Hydrant Service
- Commercial, 32
- Residential, 12
2,006 Customers with Lawn Deduct Meter Service
- Commercial, 664
- Industrial, 1
- Residential, 1341
122 Customers With Linked Meter Service
6,447 Customers With Reclaimed Water Metered Service
- Commercial, 488
- Residential, 5,959
34,255 Water Customers
- Commercial, 3,509
- Industrial, 12
- Residential, 30,734
Businesses That Are Billed a Flat Rate
Below are customer counts listed for the various city services that would be impacted:
- Fire Protection, 1,030 customers
- Installment Billing, 2,684 customers
- Liquid Propane Bulk, 1,888 customers
- Recycling Services, 29,237 customers
- Reclaimed Water Flat, 1,461 customers
- Stormwater Services, 32,490 customers
- Solid Waste Flat, 30,128 customers
- Solid Waste Weight-based, 387 customers
- Wastewater Flat, 34,714 customers
Additional Information the City Determines May Be Useful
Except for the recurring private fire line services, all other fees that would increase with this ordinance change are non-recurring in nature and, therefore, will only be incurred if a customer requests that service. Furthermore, as it relates to deposits, those will be returned to the customer (with exception of service charges), after full temporary service bill payment.