FAQ

The loan repayment fee was originally called the “capital improvement fee.” The name was changed this year to more accurately reflect what the fee actually is. It goes directly toward the loan payment the District makes twice a year to the State for the loan we received in 2010. The loan repayment fee will remain in place until the state loan is paid off in November 2031.

About 10% of our meters have failed this past year. We are in the process of either repairing the broken ones or replacing them, as we have a handful of meters in stock.

We are also reaching the end of the life expectancy of our current transmitters/meters in place. A transmitter has a life expectancy of 8-10 years. A meter has a useful life of about 12-15 years.

Life expectancy of a meter/transmitter is affected by the amount of water use during its life. It is also impacted by the internal workings of a meter. The meter becomes worn and tends to cause a certain amount of resistance, which causes the meter to “under” register the amount of water going through it. This mostly shows up as water being used at a slow rate. The other thing that can happen is the electronics of the meter can start failing, causing inaccurate reads.

Because some of our meters are already starting to fail, along with realizing that our meters/transmitters are reaching the end of their useful life, we have begun the planning process of replacing meters throughout the District. We are looking at the replacement method other districts have used- over the next few years we will build up cash, replace a small batch of meters, build up cash, replace another small batch, etc. until each meter in the District has been replaced. We expect this process to continue over a 2-3 year period.

The District has had and will continue to have discussions with the City about the possibility of merging together. Several factors are under consideration and no agreement has been made at present.