ADM-14.07 - Rates and Charges for Water and Water-Related Services

Ordinance Text

Section 1. The Council finds:

1. Pursuant to Section 11-105 of the City Charter, the Council has determined revenues are needed to cover Portland Water Bureau costs.
2. The Portland Water Bureau has recommended rates and charges sufficient to meet the Bureau’s revenue requirements for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025.
3. This ordinance has been approved by the Office of the City Attorney.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. That the rates and charges in Exhibit A for use of water and water-related services during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2026, are hereby adopted.
2. That this ordinance is binding City policy, as that term is defined in Code Section 1.07.020.
3. That all water rate ordinances now in effect conflicting in any manner with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed on and after July 1, 2025.

1. 1. BASE CHARGE

   1. (A) A base charge per bill, calculated on the actual number of days in a billing cycle, shall be levied on water and/or sewer services connected directly to the City system. A base charge per meter shall be levied on sewer special submeters. A base charge shall be levied on drainage only accounts. The base charge shall be in addition to the volume or extra strength rates charged for water and sewer as follows:
      
      Billed charges are as follows:
      Quarterly (90 day) billed account is $74.14 prorated for the actual number of days billed at $0.8238 per day.
      Bi-monthly (60 day) billed account is $74.14 prorated for the actual number of days billed at $1.2357 per day.
      Monthly (30 day) billed account is $74.14 prorated for the actual number of days billed at $2.4713 per day.
   2. (B) Minimum Bill Requirement: Effective on or after April 1, 2026, all water customers shall be subject to a minimum bill amounting to no less than 50% of the applicable base charge for their billing cycle, regardless of actual water usage. This minimum bill ensures the recovery of fixed costs associated with maintaining water services, including meter reading, inspections, account servicing, and billing.
   3. (C) Non-Discountable Minimum Bill: The minimum bill established under Section 1(B) shall not be subject to any discounts, waivers, or reductions through financial assistance programs or any other billing modifications. All customers, regardless of eligibility for financial assistance, must pay at least the minimum bill as defined in this section.
   4. (D) The base charge shall apply to any unused water service unless and until the property owner, or the party otherwise in possession or control of the property requests that the service be removed at the main and pays for the removal. Base charges shall apply to any unused water service supplying water to another city, water district or water company unless the entity requests that the service be removed at the main and pays for the removal.
   5. (E) The Portland Water Bureau discount for low-income single-family residential accounts is as follows:
   6. If an account has a water or sewer bill that is less than the discount, no credit or refund would be given.

The Portland Water Bureau discount for extremely low-income single-family residential accounts is as follows:

If an account has a water or sewer bill that is less than the discount, no credit or refund would be given. 

(F) The Portland Water Bureau discount for Regulated Affordable Multifamily Assistance Program (RAMP) qualified multifamily accounts is as follows: 

The RAMP discount program will have two discount tiers for each service type as explained below. The discount does not include irrigation, fire lines, extra strength, or clean to stormwater flow services. The percent discount will go on the bill for the property in the form of a discount on the water/sewer/stormwater utility bill.

5. (G) The new Smart Discount Program will operate as follows:
6. The Program utilizes machine-learning algorithms to analyze various factors and data to proactively identify eligible customers for financial assistance, thereby eliminating the application process. The Program will offer targeted, percentage-based discounts using the factors and data analyzed. Discounts will range from five percent (5%) to eighty percent (80%). The Program will be implemented in Fall 2024 and run through FY 2025-26.  The Program will be measured and evaluated throughout its implementation and refined accordingly.  At the conclusion of the Program, it will be evaluated to determine its continuation going forward.
7. (H) Fire protection services, and any services equipped with backflow prevention assemblies or detector check metering devices located in vaults owned by the City, shall be billed a daily charge based on the size of the service connection to the premises as follows:
8.  

2. 2. COMMODITY RATE

   For water used through metered services, the charge per 100 cubic feet shall be as follows:

   1. (A) Inside City Boundaries:
      
      Retail Rate: $8.171
      
      The Director of the Portland Water Bureau may invoke curtailment rates to address a serious water shortage. The Bureau will report to Council before establishing curtailment rates.
      
      Receiving untreated water exclusively from the Columbia South Shore Well Field:  $1.09
   2. (B) Outside City Services and Wholesale Distributors
      1. (1) Other cities, water districts or water companies purchasing water for resale.

2. (2) Served directly by the City that are not other distributors.

Receiving water from supply conduits:

Residential and commercial rates are as follows; $1.466

Receiving water from distribution system:

Residential and commercial rates are as follows; $6.000

Formerly served by the Sylvan Water District; $6.000

Pursuant to a dissolution agreement between the Sylvan Water District and the City of Portland, those current City customers who were served by Sylvan Water District at the time of the dissolution are charged this special Sylvan rate.

1. (3) The Director of the Portland Water Bureau is authorized to sell water on an emergency basis to other governmental bodies under terms and conditions they deem appropriate. Water served on an emergency basis may be charged rates calculated in the following manner or charged at the discretion of the Director. 

   1. (a) Short Duration Emergency Rates:  rates for water purchases of a duration of two consecutive days or less shall be the sum of the highest rate of wholesale customers using similar functional asset groups set forth in subsection a.2(B)(I) plus a 20 percent administrative fee. Any incremental costs incurred by the City to provide the service will be added to the costs determined above.

   2. (b) Mid Duration Emergency Rates:  rates for water purchases of a duration of three to seven consecutive days shall be the sum of the highest rate of wholesale customers using similar functional asset groups set forth in subsection 2(B)(1) plus a 15 percent administrative fee. Any incremental costs incurred by the City to provide the service will be added to the costs determined above.

   3. (c) Long Duration Rates:  for purchases of water for more than seven consecutive days or in unusual circumstances a special long-term rate will be negotiated.

2. “Emergency” means an unforeseen circumstance or combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action as determined in the discretion of the Director of the Portland Water Bureau.
3. (C) Water will be furnished at Inside City Boundaries Commodity Rates to a continuous building having 50% or more of the area of the building located within the City boundaries. All other structures, buildings, shops, dwellings and/or sprinkling systems or parts thereof wholly outside the City Boundaries, shall be supplied by separate services and meters, and shall be charged the Outside City Boundaries Commodity Rate. The separate meters and services shall be furnished and installed at the expense of the owner of the premises. All connections covered under this section are required to be equipped with a minimum of a double-check valve assembly pursuant to Title 21.70.010 (B).
4.  

5. 3. SERVICES NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED

6. (A) For performance of services for which a charge is not otherwise specified, charges shall be a Bureau estimate of the cost, calculated as provided in the City Comprehensive Financial Management Policy, including but not limited to Policy BCP-FIN 2.06.
7. (B) Charges are calculated based upon cost-of-service principles and recover the cost of materials and services provided by the Bureau. Benefit, leave, and indirect rates annually calculated by the Bureau are utilized in these calculations.

4. SERVICES FOR FIRE PROTECTION

1. (A) Services used exclusively for fire protection shall be charged according to the size of the service entering the premises, plus additional costs for meter or data logger communication services as determined by the Director of the Water Bureau.
2. (B) Commodity Charges
   1. (1) Water used for system testing registered on detector metered fire lines or estimated by the Director of the Portland Water Bureau on unmetered fire lines shall be charged at the applicable commodity retail rate prescribed in Section 2 of this Ordinance.
   2. (2) Unauthorized water use registered on detector metered fire lines or estimated by the Director of the Portland Water Bureau on unmetered fire lines shall be charged at the applicable commodity retail rate prescribed in Section 2 of this Rate Ordinance.
   3. (3) Unauthorized use of water from a fire line shall result in a charge of $1,000 for the first billing cycle during which the use occurs. Any subsequent unauthorized use during a subsequent billing cycle within twelve months of the first such use shall be charged a minimum of $1,000, provided that the Director of the Portland Water Bureau may also impose up to an additional $9,000 charge in their discretion after consideration of the circumstances of the use.
   4. (4) If unauthorized use of a fire line occurs four or more times within twelve months of the first such use (including the first use in the count), the Director of the Portland Water Bureau may thereafter treat the fire line as a standard service subject to all applicable provisions of this Rate Ordinance and Title 21 of the City Code.
   5. (5) The Director of the Portland Water Bureau may require the installation on existing fire lines of additional or improved detector metering devices, including data loggers, pursuant to his authority to require such devises in Portland City Code 21.30.220, and may thereafter charge rates as allowed by Subsection 4(A) of this Rate Ordinance to recover the costs of meter or data logger communications. Failure to install the required devices on a schedule set by the Director of the Portland Water Bureau is a violation for purposes of City Code 21.30.090.

3. 5. STANDBY SUPPLY CONNECTIONS

   Distributors (other cities, water districts or water companies purchasing water for resale) having a water supply other than that furnished by the City of Portland and desiring a standby supply from the City of Portland shall be charged on the basis of the contract specific to that distributor.  The Director of the Portland Water Bureau is authorized to execute such contracts. All standby connections are to be equipped with a minimum of a double-check valve assembly pursuant to City Code 21.70.010 (B).

4. 6. LATE PAYMENT AND OTHER CHARGES

   The following charges shall be made by the Portland Water Bureau and may be added to the sewer and water bill. General notice and information regarding the circumstances under which the Portland Water Bureau may access these charges shall be provided on customer bills.

   (A) Additional charges for late payment of bill:

   1. (1) When the status becomes past due:

      Reminder late fee; $5.00
       

      (2) When the bill goes to pre shut-off or urgent status:

      Pre shut-off or Urgent late fee; $14.00

      
      (3) When a notice of pending shut off is delivered to a property.

      Last chance late fee; $35.00
       

      (4) When the bill goes to shut off authorization status:

      Authorization to disconnect water for nonpayment late fee; $120
       

5. (B) After the water has been shut off for non-payment, the Bureau may continue to assess late charges against any subsequent unpaid bill. Further, the provision of Section 21.40.040 of the City Code pertaining to delinquent water bills, shall apply.

   (C) Additional charges for non-payment of bill or unauthorized water usage:

   1. (1) Unauthorized usage & lock meter (in addition to the commodity rate charged for usage); $160
   2. (2) Plocking and removal of meter; $250
   3. (3) Crimp/freeze a service, minimum charge; $975

   4. (4) Amounts above those specified in subsections (C)(1), (C)(2), and (C)(3) may be charged as provided for in section a.3(B) and the City Comprehensive Financial Management Policy, including but not limited to Policy BCP-FIN 2.06.

      (5) Shutting off water at main, or reinstating service, or uncrimping/unfreezing a service; as provided in section a.3(B) and the City Comprehensive Financial Management Policy, including but not limited to Policy BCP-FIN 2.06.

6. (D) After the water has been shut off for non-payment, charge to restore water service after regular business hours:

   1. Requests made between:

      Monday – Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm No Charge

      Monday – Friday 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm $200.00

      Monday – Thursday 9:00 pm to 8:00 am $250.00

      Friday after 9:00pm/Weekends/Holidays $250.00

7. (E) All accounts that become past due and unpaid are subject to collection action, at the City’s discretion, either through efforts of City staff or by a collection agency contracted by the City. Past due and unpaid account balances that become the subject of collection action may be charged any additional costs of collection incurred by the City. Costs to recover City staff collection efforts may be computed, and charges assessed for such collection costs shall not exceed an amount computed, in the same manner as charges for services performed for outside parties in section a.3(B), and the City Comprehensive Financial Management Policy, including but not limited to Policy BCP-FIN 2.06. or as otherwise set by action of the Council.

8. (F) The following charge may be added to the bill when meter readers are required to use more than normal time to read meters due to locked doors, fences or other obstructions established or permitted and each time the meter reader is required to return to read the meter. $84

   (G) Appeals:

   Appeals to Administrative Review Committee (ARC), pursuant to ADM-14.02, City Administrative Policies and Rules; No Charge

   Persons may appeal ARC decisions to the Code Hearings Officer (CHO), or make other appeals to the CHO as allowed by Code, with the cost determined by the Director of the Portland Water Bureau or as otherwise set by action of the Council.

   (H) Inactive accounts may be billed for charges related to account maintenance.

   (I) A deposit may be required as a condition of service as provided for in Section 21.40.060 of the City Code.

9. 7. CARRYING CHARGES

   1. (A) Water, sanitary sewer and stormwater bills issued by the City that become past due are subject to a carrying charge at a rate of 12% per year (1.0% per month simple interest) on the unpaid balance. Carrying charges may be added to extended payment plans.
   2. (B) Outstanding Portland Water Bureau receivables unrelated to water, sanitary sewer and stormwater utility bills shall be subject to a carrying charge at a rate of 12% per year (1.0% per month simple interest) on delinquencies greater than 28 days from date of invoice.

   3. 8. PENALTIES

      (A) A person found liable for violation of Portland City Code 21.24.050 shall be subject to a penalty of up to $10,000 plus reimbursement to the City of the cost of repairs, calculated as provided in section a.3(B) and the City Comprehensive Financial Management Policy, including but not limited to Policy BCP-FIN 2.06.

10. 9. ADJUSTMENTS

    (A) When collecting fees and charges, the Director of the Portland Water Bureau may make adjustments, pay refunds, authorize or waive fees and charges when it is in the best business interest of the City. A full explanation of these changes must be filed with the office records.
    Credit balances on a on a final billed account of $20.00 or less will not be refunded unless approved by the Director or designee.