November 2019
Taylorsville-Bennion Improvement District (TBID) is dedicated to providing safe, clean, and reliable drinking water and sanitary sewer service in a cost-effective manner. We have been able to do so through maintaining and operating a complex and highly efficient water distribution and wastewater (sewer) collection system. We have worked very hard to keep our rates and fees as low as possible and we are pleased that our water and sewer rates are among the lowest in the valley. Additionally, our property tax rate has not been increased in decades and is the lowest rate of any water and wastewater utility in the valley.
Annually, we review our rates to ensure that we are able to adequately meet the financial requirements to operate our system. For 2020, it has been determined by our 3rd party rate consultant that it will be necessary to increase our water and sewer rates by 3%. Additionally, it will be necessary to establish a Central Valley Assessment fee of $5.00 per month per ERU (equivalent residential unit). (See detail schedule) The reasons for the necessary fee adjustments are explained below.
Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility
Wastewater collected by TBID is carried to the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility (CVWRF) for treatment. CVWRF, located west of Interstate 15 and north of 3300 South, treats almost 60 million gallons of wastewater per day from seven different areas of Salt Lake County. TBID, along with six other member agencies, owns a percentage of the plant and is responsible for our portion of the plant’s costs.
As you may be aware, CVWRF is in the process of rebuilding and redesigning the treatment plant. This rebuild is to meet new EPA and Utah Department of Water Quality requirements related to discharging phosphorous after treatment and to replace aging and degraded equipment within the plant. The cost of these projects is approximately $250 to $300 million and will occur over the next 20 years. Due to the current economic environment including labor, the estimated costs to reconstruct the plant have increased significantly and the cost could possibly exceed initial estimates by CVWRF. See the CVWRF website summary at https://www.cvwrf.org/Construction for more details.
We have met with our 3rd party rate consultant (Zions Public Finance) to analyze how to pay for our share of the CVWRF plant upgrade and they have recommended the proposed rate increase of $5.00 per month per ERU. With this proposed rate increase the average wastewater bill for a residential customer will be approximately $27 per month.
System Maintenance
We continue to be proactive rather than reactive in regards to maintaining and repairing our water and sewer infrastructure. Taylorsville- Bennion Improvement District owns 19 wells, 16 reservoirs, 5 booster stations, 3 fluoride and chlorine injection plants, 2 lift stations and over 249 miles of water pipeline and over 186 miles of sewer pipeline.
By proactively reviewing and maintaining these lines, we are able to minimize service interruptions and continue to provide customers with the reliable service that is needed. Between 2020 and 2029, the District has identified approximately $70 million of infrastructure improvements that will be necessary to continue to provide the level of service that our customers expect. These projects include well development and maintenance, water line replacement, relining of sewer lines and water reservoir construction. The proposed rate increase of 3% for water and sewer is needed to be able to provide the necessary funding for these projects.
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District
Taylorsville-Bennion Improvement District owns and operates 19 wells. This provides approximately 65% of the water needed by the District. The remaining 35% of water needed by District customers is purchased from Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District (JVWCD). In June 2019, the JVWCD Board approved rates that included a 1.3% increase for TBID for the time period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020.
We take our responsibility to provide our customers with safe, clean, and reliable drinking water and sanitary sewer service in a cost-effective manner very seriously. We have worked hard to minimize the financial impact on our customers and will continue to do so in the future. Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact our office at (801) 968-9081.
Sincerely,
Taylorsville-Bennion Improvement District