Thursday, June 15,2023
Public Hearing

Purpose:  The City of St. George, Utah will hold public hearings to review and take public comment regarding non-reciprocal transfers for unbilled utility services from the Electric, Water, and Sewer Funds to other City Funds.

Public Hearing:  Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 5:00 pm. St. George City Hall, 175 E 200 N, St. George, UT 84770

Background:  The City of St. George has funds that operate as business-type funds, providing water, energy, and sewer collection and treatment services to customers and charging fees based upon consumption (usage) at rates established by the St. George City Council. Most city-owned facilities are charged for these services, but some services are provided at no cost to the City. For example, the Water Fund provides water and irrigation water to some city parks, city facilities, golf courses, and landscaped rights-of-way.  Similarly, the Electric Fund provides power to city wells and pump stations used by the Water Fund to distribute water to customers. For the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, the total amount of unbilled services is $1,216,615 for water and irrigation, $57,906 for sewer collection and treatment, and $1,349,386 for electricity.

The costs indicated in this notice are already included in the rates utility customers are currently paying, and we estimate that each customer is billed an average of $2.29 per month for these costs. This notice is for informational purposes only and this practice of unbilled utility services does not result in a proposed increase in the water, electric, or sewer rates. However, the 2023-2024 budget does include proposed rate increases due to increased costs from suppliers and other infrastructure needs. The proposed water increase incorporates a passthrough of a $0.10 per 1,000 gallons increase in wholesale rates from the Washington County Water Conservancy District and a water base rate increase of $2.00 per month;  the proposed wastewater rate will increase $1.50 per month; and $3.50 to the drainage fee per month.

For the current fiscal year 2022-2023, the amount of unbilled utility services is as follows:

For next fiscal year 2023-2024, the amount of unbilled utility services are budgeted as follows:

For questions or comments regarding this public notice, please contact the following individuals at 435-627-4000.

Trevor A. Coombs, Administrative Services Director, Tiffany M. LaJoice, Finance Manager,

Robert Myers, Budget & Financial Planning Manager, Laurie D. Mangum, Energy Services Director,

Scott B. Taylor, Water Services Director, and Cameron H. Cutler, Public Works Director