Item - 2013.EX36.17

City Council on December 16, 17 and 18, 2013, adopted the following:

Water Rates and Fees

1.         City Council approve:

a.         Effective January 1, 2014, the combined water and wastewater rates charged to metered consumers shall be as shown below and in Appendix B to the report (October 30, 2013) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and the General Manager, Toronto Water;

b.         Effective January 1, 2014, the water and wastewater rates charged to flat rate consumers be increased by 9% to the rates shown in Appendix B to the report (October 30, 2013) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and the General Manager, Toronto Water;

c.         Effective January 1, 2014, the water and wastewater service fees, including all fees to be transferred to Toronto Water from Engineering and Construction Services, formerly Technical Services, shall be as shown in Appendix C to the report (October 30, 2013) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and the General Manager, Toronto Water;

d.         Effective January 1, 2014, Chapter 441 – Fees and Charges, Appendix D, Schedule 3, Wastewater Services be amended to include the new service fees for CCTV inspections of sewage works impacted by private construction, based on actual costs, and for sanitary discharge permits, as well as clarification of the existing minimum fees and fee basis for industrial waste surcharge agreements and permits and sanitary discharge agreements, as set out in Appendix D to the report (October 30, 2013) from the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer, and the General Manager, Toronto Water;

e.         Effective January 1, 2014, Chapter 441 – Fees and Charges, Appendix D, Schedule 2, Water Services be amended to include a new fee of $75 for lost or damaged automated meter reading transmitters;

f.          Effective July 1, 2014, Chapter 441 – Fees and Charges, Appendix D, Schedule 2, Water Services be amended to include a new manual water meter reading fee of $80 per visit for consumers with water meters refusing to allow the installation of a new automatic water meter;

g.         Effective July 1, 2014, Chapter 441– Fees and Charges, Appendix D, Schedule 2, Water Services be amended to include a new flat rate legacy fee of $1,020 per year, which will be in addition to the existing flat rate fee, for residential flat rate consumers who refuse to allow the installation of an automatic water meter on their property; and

h.         Effective September 1, 2014, Chapter 441– Fees and Charges, Appendix D, Schedule 2, Water Services be amended to include a new administrative fee of $50 for processing annual water supply backflow prevention device testing reports under the City's backflow prevention program.

2.         City Council approve, with respect to assistance for low-income seniors and low-income disabled persons, that:

a.         The rebate for eligible low-income seniors and low-income disabled persons be set at a rate of $0.8874 /m3, effective January 1, 2014, representing a 30% reduction from the Block 1 rate (paid on or before the due date).

3.         City Council make the necessary amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 441 - Fees and Charges, Municipal Code Chapter 849 - Water and Sewage Services and Utility Bill, and Municipal Code Chapter 681- Sewers, and any other necessary Municipal Code Chapters as may be required, to give effect to Parts 1 and 2 above.

4.         City Council authorize, effective July 1, 2014, the following amendments to Chapter 441, Fees and Charges, of the Toronto Municipal Code:

a.         Appendix D, Schedule 1, Water and Wastewater Consumption Rates, be amended to include a manual water meter reading fee of $80 per visit; and

b.         Appendix D, Schedule 1, Water and Wastewater Consumption Rates, be amended to include a flat rate legacy fee of $1,020 per year for residential flat rate consumers.

5.         City Council authorize, effective July 1, 2014, any other amendments to the Municipal Code to implement the above fees to water consumers who refuse or fail to allow access for the purposes of installing new water meters and associated meter reading equipment under the City's Water Meter Program.

6.         City Council amend Municipal Code Chapter 681 - Sewers substantially in accordance with the draft By-law attached as Appendix A to the report (October 4, 2013) from the General Manager, Toronto Water.

7.         City Council amend Municipal Code Chapter 441 - Fees and Charges Schedule C, Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 441 - Fees and Charges, Appendix D - Schedule 3, Wastewater Services, substantially in accordance with the draft By-law attached as Appendix B to the report (October 4, 2013) from the General Manager, Toronto Water.

8.         City Council amend Municipal Code Chapter 851 - Water Supply substantially in accordance with the draft By-law attached as Appendix C to the report (October 4, 2013) from the General Manager, Toronto Water.

9.         City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water to give consideration in 2015 and future years Toronto Water budgets to limiting Block 2 Customer water rate increases to a 3% rate increase, or a rate tied to the inflation rate, as a mechanism to use water as an economic driver to support business competitiveness in Toronto.

10.       City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water in Consultation with the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture to further consult with Industry stakeholders in 2014 as part of the consultation being undertaken under report EX35.11 "Future Options and Public Attitudes for Paying for Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Infrastructure and Services" and report back as part of the 2015 Budget submission on the following:

a.         consideration of the potential to reduce the Block 2 threshold from 6000m3 to 5000m3 or an appropriate threshold that provides an opportunity for more value added manufacturing and production firms to become eligible for the block 2 rate;

b.         consideration of the application of fixed cost component related to billing so as not to unfairly impact large water users;

c.         consideration of other methods or models of financing as a potential source of capital funding for a new financing strategy with a view to minimizing rate increases as part of Toronto Water's 2015 Capital and Operating Budget Submission; and

d.         consideration of the re-introduction of the capacity buy-back program for Block 2 eligible customers to further support industry investing in their infrastructure.

11.       City Council request the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture in conjunction with the General Manager, Toronto Water to develop an enhanced communications and outreach strategy to with firms that are currently eligible for the Block 2 rate program but are not currently participating and advise them more broadly on how the City can help to support their growth and development in Toronto.

Capital Budget

12.       City Council approve the 2014 Recommended Capital Budget for Toronto Water with a total project cost of $968.676 million, and 2014 cash flow of $613.270 million and future year commitments of $2.580 billion comprised of the following:

a.         New Cash Flow Funding for:

i.          260 new / change in scope sub-projects with a 2014 total project cost of $968.676 million that requires cash flow of ($181.985 million) in 2014 and a future year cash flow commitment of $216.870 million in 2015; $324.884 million in 2016,  $314.215 million in 2017, $190.590 million in 2018, $85.214 million in 2019, ($8.734 million) in 2020; ($10.609 million) in 2021, ($13.921) million in 2022, and $52.152 million in 2023; and

ii.         216 previously approved sub-projects with a 2014 cash flow of $657.198 million; and a future year cash flow commitment of $466.680 million in 2015; $301.777 million in 2016,  $208.576 million in 2017, $103.774 million in 2018, $100.886 million in 2019, $100.595 million in 2020; $76.240 million in 2021, and $70.880 million in 2022; and

b.         2013 approved cash flow for 151 previously approved sub-projects with carry forward funding from 2013 into 2014 totaling $138.057 million.

13.       City Council approve the 2015-2023 Recommended Capital Plan for Toronto Water totalling $5.915 billion in project estimates, comprised of $110.798 million in 2015; $241.121 million in 2016; $406.364 million in 2017; $694.490 million in 2018;  $817.183 million in 2019; $869.353 million in 2020; $941.077 million in 2021; $908.333 million in 2022; and $926.611 million in 2023, as amended by Part 11 above.

14.       City Council amend, for future planning purposes, the draft Capital Plan to reflect a water rate increase of 8% in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 and that staff report back during the 2015 Budget process on additional financing options.

15.       Council consider operating costs of $4.432 million net in 2014, ($0.370) million net in 2015; $0.175 million net in 2016; $5.709 million net in 2017; $5.875 million net in 2018; $0.365 million net in 2019; and $2.504 million net in 2020; and $0.050 million emanating from the approval of the 2014 Recommended Capital Budget for inclusion in the 2014 and future year operating budgets.

16.       City Council approve 6 temporary capital positions for the delivery of new 2014 capital projects and that the duration for each temporary position not exceed the life and funding of its respective project / sub-project.

17.       City Council request the Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the General Manager, Toronto Water to advance the 2015 cashflow for the Basement Flooding project into 2014, should it become evident that greater than planned volume of work can be completed, and that the 2015 – 2023 budgeted cash flows be adjusted accordingly as part of the 2015 Budget process.

18.       City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water, to prioritize future Basement Flooding Protection Program studies based on the density of reported basement flooding complaints per sanitary sewer subsewershed for major storm events since 2000.  The density of reported basement flooding complaints will be calculated on the basis of the number of complaints of basement flooding received by the City divided by the land area serviced by the sanitary sewer subsewershed.

19.       City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water, to initiate and expedite the completion of new Environmental Assessment studies for Area 35 (Silver Creek subsewershed), Area 36 (Chapman subsewershed), Area 37 (Hillary subsewershed), Area 38 (Etobicoke Creek subsewershed), Area 39 (Berry Creek subsewershed), Area 40 (Forman-Yonge subsewershed), and Area 41 (North Mimico Creek subsewershed).

20.       City Council include $1.5 million for Environmental Assessment work on the Scarborough Waterfront Erosion Control and Access Plan with funding coming from the Toronto Water Capital Reserve.

21.       City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water, to report back on the schedule of future Basement Flooding Protection Program study areas (for Study Area 42 and beyond), across the remainder of the City, as part of Toronto Water's  2015 Budget Submission.

22.       City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water, to report to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee prior to the 2015 Budget Process on a Response Protocol with financial impacts for basement flooding caused by project work within the Basement Flooding Relief Program.

23.       City Council request the General Manager, Toronto Water to report back in early 2014 on a coordinated, prioritized Toronto Water and Toronto Region Conservation Authority erosion control strategy and projects, such report to consider an Environmental Assessment for the Scarborough Waterfront Trail and Critical Erosion.

24.       City Council direct the General Manager, Toronto Water, to increase the total subsidy available under the Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program from $3,200 to $3,400 per household by removing the combined subsidy for a backwater valve and sump pump for applications processed after January 2, 2014.

Operating Budget

25.       City Council approve the 2014 Recommended Operating Budget for Toronto Water of $403.163 million gross and $618.722 million in capital-from-current contribution, comprised of the following services:

26.       City Council approve Toronto Water's 2014 proposed service levels, as outlined on page 7 of the 2014 Recommended Operating Budget (Analyst Notes) for Toronto Water, and the associated staff complement of 1,732.8, as amended by Part 25 below.

27.       City Council, subject to Part 14 above which amends, for future planning purposes, the draft Capital Plan to reflect a water rate increase of 8% in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, also amend the 2014 recommended operating budget for Toronto Water to include 2 additional staff and $0.200 million in gross expenditure increase and offsetting capital contribution reductions.

28.       City Council direct the General Manager, Toronto Water to report back on the results of the Water Loss and Leak Detection Program with an implementation plan, including estimated costs and benefits, in time for consideration with the 2015 Budget Process for Toronto Water.

29.       City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce any necessary Bills required to implement Council's decision, subject to any necessary refinements, including stylistic, format and organization, as may be identified by the City Solicitor and the General Manager, Toronto Water.