Item #03
Date: January 17, 2023
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jennifer Styczynski, Finance Director
Jim Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Amendment to the City’s Current Fee Schedule
Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to 1) have Council conduct the noticed public hearing to receive comments regarding proposed changes to the Marysville Fee Schedule; and 2) adopt Resolution No. 2023-XX approving penalties associated with sewers and sewage disposal within the City of Marysville.
Background:
Sewer late fees amounts are established within the Marysville Municipal Code. Per an update to the Municipal Code approved by Council on January 3, 2023, through Ordinance No. 1444, the “City Council shall by resolution establish the amount of such penalties for nonpayment of delinquent sewer service charge”. The current Fee Schedule does not reflect this amendment and needs to be updated to be consistent with the Municipal Code. It is proposed that Ordinance No. 1444 and this amendment to the Fee Schedule would take effect at the same time, February 2, 2023.
Discussion & Analysis:
The attached Resolution establishes the late payment charges for residential and commercial customers and corrects the Fee Schedule addressing late fees to be consistent with the Municipal Code. The prior late fee structure was a 10% penalty of the monthly billing amount for each payment that was delinquent. Under this structure, a commercial customer with a monthly bill of $2,500 would have a $250 late fee and a residential customer with a monthly bill of $53.49 would have a $5.35 late fee. The proposed Resolution would set late fees at $5.00 for residential and $10.00 for commercial customers which is a reasonable cost for the administrative effort to follow up on late payments. The intent is not to collect late fees but rather to incentivize customers to pay timely. The interest charges will remain the same to be charged monthly for ongoing delinquent balances equal to one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the total delinquent balance. This is the only proposed change to the Fee Schedule.
Fiscal Analysis:
Revenue from late fees citywide is projected to range from $10,000 to $20,000 per year. As an example, if a single-family customer does not pay its bill for 12 months, the projected annual late fee would be approximately $84.
Attachments:
1) Resolution No. 2023-01
2) Exhibit A, Proposed Revised Fee Schedule