To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Phil Brun, Utilities Director
Prepared By: Sara Gallegos, Management Analyst II
TITLE:
Title
Update Backflow Prevention Device Testing Fees
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution updating Backflow Prevention Device Testing fees and authorizing the City Manager to reimburse water customers to the extent they paid a higher fee amount for Backflow Prevention Device Testing between April 2023 and the effective date of this resolution.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The City’s Utilities Department is responsible for compliance with the State of California’s Cross-Connection Control Policy intended to protect public health by ensuring drinking water is not subject to backflow of liquids, gases, or other substances.
The City notifies its water customers of the state requirement for annual testing of their backflow prevention devices. After three notices, if the water customer has failed to independently have their backflow prevention device tested and provide passing results to the Utilities Department, the City must act for compliance. Staff is deployed to perform the required annual testing of backflow devices for non-compliant water customers throughout the City’s water system, including water customers outside of City limits. Upon test completion, a fee is passed on to the water customer via their water utility bill for actual costs incurred by City, including labor, equipment, and administrative costs. The current adopted user fee for backflow prevention device testing was developed based on the amount of labor and vehicle mileage costs incurred for services within City limits versus outside City limits in the more rural area which required more driving time.
In April 2023, the City entered into an agreement with a contractor to perform testing of backflow prevention devices in lieu of City staff performing testing for non-compliant accounts. This change resulted in higher efficiency and lower costs for the actual testing of backflow prevention devices. The change also resulted in charges for testing based on the size of the backflow prevention device, rather than the location of the water customer inside or outside of City limits.
As a result of contracting out the testing, staff has recalculated the estimated reasonable cost of noticing and testing non-compliant backflow prevention devices and is proposing an update to the Master Fee Schedule to include these revised fees.
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize updating the user fee name and amount for Backflow Prevention Device Testing as follows:
Fee No. 13.6.1:
Current Fee: Backflow Prevention Device Testing Inside City limits at $295 per test.
Proposed Fee: Backflow Prevention Device Testing - ¾” and 1” at $239 per test.
Fee No. 13.6.2:
Current Fee: Backflow Prevention Device Testing Outside City limits at $465 per test.
Proposed Fee: Backflow Prevention Device Testing - 1 ½” and larger at $259 per test.
Given that the change to using contractor services and lowering the cost of testing non-compliant backflow prevention devices occurred in April 2023, Staff also recommends the City Council authorize a reimbursement to any water customer who paid a Backflow Prevention Device Testing fee between April 2023 and the effective date of the proposed resolution. The amount of each reimbursement will be based on the difference between the fee amount actually paid and the applicable proposed fee amount, based on backflow prevention device size
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
Approximately 170 water customers have paid Backflow Prevention Device Testing fees since April 2023. A reimbursement to these water customers, based on the difference between the fee amount actually paid and the applicable proposed fee amount based on backflow prevention device size, is estimated to lower Water Enterprise Fund revenue by approximately $12,000.
CEQA:
The Utilities Director hereby determines that the Recommended Action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15060 (c) and 15309.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Resolution
EX A - Proposed Updated Fee Schedule for 13.6 Backflow Prevention Device Testing
EX B - Summary of Fee Updates
NOTIFICATION:
None