Protesting rate hikes, the owner of a local motel has threatened not to pay his latest sewer bill.<\/p>\n
James Parks, owner of the Cortez Knights Inn on South Broadway, told Cortez Sanitation District board members Monday, March 10, that rate hikes put into place in January should be based on consumption, instead of being modeled and based on decades-old U.S. averages.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy water bill this month was $590, and this is the slow season,\u201d Parks said. \u201cIt\u2019s not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the off-season, Parks said he closes half his rooms to customers. Before the rate increase, his monthly bill averaged about $125. Parks suggested that rates be based on actual number of rooms rented, instead of being charged at full capacity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do a third of the business of other hotels in town,\u201d Parks said. \u201cWith these rates, you\u2019re going to make us go bankrupt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without offering relief, CSD board president Dave Waters informed Parks that CSD could neither manage nor make business decisions for the motel.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery hotel is paying the same amount per room,\u201d Waters said. \u201cYou need to figure out how to rent those empty rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parks dismissed the advice and left the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t control the economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Prior to the public comments, CSD district manager Tim Krebs suggested board members adopt an across-the-board, 25 percent rate discount for all 12 hotel customers during off-season months. The reduction would help restore rates to historical levels, Krebs said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA majority of the hotels are upset about the new rates,\u201d Krebs told board members. \u201cThe term \u2018class action lawsuit\u2019 is something I\u2019ve heard a lot recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several upset customers, including a convenience store owner and coffee shop purveyor, also complained Monday about the rate hikes. All indicated the rates hurt their bottom line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need some sort of concessions from the Cortez Sanitation District,\u201d said Cordell Shumway, owner of three convenience stores.<\/p>\n
The Jan. 1 rate hikes were approved 3-1 in December. CSD board director Jim Candelaria was the lone opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the sewer rates should be based on consumption,\u201d said Candelaria. \u201cThat would be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the rate change, CSD officials billed customers based on consumption, using water usage data from the city, but CSD officials say the city\u2019s numbers were unreliable for proper billing. To have rates again based on consumption, Waters suggested upset customers lobby the City of Cortez to upgrade to a digital water meter reading system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to base rates on consumption before, but it didn\u2019t work,\u201d Waters said.<\/p>\n
Under the new rate structure, 2014 commercial sewer fees are determined based on six different classifications. While most new business rates are based on square footage, hotel fees are linked to total number of units, hospital charges are connected to total number of beds and schools and day cares are subject to total student capacity. New rates for The Cortez Journal are determined based on total number of employees.<\/p>\n
CSD approved the rate hike after a $25,000 engineering study, which suggested commercial customers be awarded a Single Family Equivalency (SFE) ratio based on 1994 American Water Works Association guidelines. The SFE ratio is multiplied by the square footage, number of employees or number of beds, for example, which is then multiplied by $30 to determine a monthly sewer rate.<\/p>\n
CSD expects to collect more than $2.1 million in service fees in 2014, an increase of more than $77,000 over 2013 revenues. CSD\u2019s total operating expenditures in 2014 are projected at nearly $1.6 million.<\/p>\n