Water Utilities Policy Don't Make Sense for Multifamily

[John Deyrup]

There are three issues around water utilities work that don't make that much sense to me. These issues are likely to get much worse due to the lack of investment of in water infrastructure and climate change in the coming years.

1. Tiered schedules treated differently for apartments vs single family homes

2. Billing being tied to a property

3. Lack of incentives around water conservation/efficiency

Tier Schedule:

Water bills in our area are billed on tiered rates based on usage so that apartments will pay the higher tier rate even though there are multiple families living at the location; e.g.

Pricing:

<= 2000 cf / $6 per 100 cf
> 2000 cf / $9 per 100 cf

Two families in separate houses using 2000 cf/month each

House 1: $120: (6 * 2000 / 100)

House 2: $120: (6 * 2000 / 100)

Total Bill Paid: $240

Two families in a multifamily using 2000 cf/month each, are treated as one billing location for usage rates

Unit 1: $120: (6 * 2000 / 100)

Unit 2: $180: (9 * 2000 / 100)

Total Bill Paid: $300

I am not sure what the policy benefit of charging 50% more for people living in apartments/multifamily is; I would assume that it is cheaper for the city to maintain piping to one location vs two locations. Am I missing something about why families living in the multifamily should pay more?

Bills Being Tied to Property:

Utility bills are not tied to a landlords property for gas and electric. What is it about water bills that requires them to be tied to the property owner?

Issues around conservation/efficiency:

I don't think the incentives work properly for any of the utilities. Landlords should be incentivized to increase unit efficiency and tenants should be incentivized to use less resources. With heat and gas the landlord has almost no incentive to increase the efficiency of the units because the tenant pays for all of the utilities. There is an incentive for the tenant to use less energy, but there is only so much they can do without building improvements. With water the tenant has no incentive to use less water, but the landlord has an incentive to make water usage more efficient.

I am not sure what the right solution; it could be cost sharing in utilities, requiring utility usage to be made public so renters can compare rent + utilities, or some other solution. I don't directly bill my tenants based on water usage, but all of my costs are reflected in the rent so both landlords and tenants pay for this.

CTA: Is anyone interested in forming a group to petition state and local governments about this issue.