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6.3.B. - Page 1 <br />REPORT <br />To the Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From the City Manager <br />December 12, 2016 <br />SUBJECT <br />Approve the Appropriation of Funds for a Utility Bill Assistance Program and Authorize <br />the Public Works Director to Create and Administer a Utility Bill Assistance Program <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />Adopt a resolution to: <br />1. Appropriate $60,000 to the Water Fund; <br />2. Appropriate $60,000 to the Sewer Fund; and <br />3. Authorize the Public Works Director to create and administer a utility bill <br />assistance program <br />BACKGROUND <br />The City of Redwood City provides potable water distribution and sanitary sewer <br />collection services for the Redwood City community. Providing water distribution and <br />sanitary sewer collection services comes with significant costs. Ongoing efforts to <br />rehabilitate the infrastructure system, rising costs of wholesale water purchases, and <br />providing for conscious management of limited water resources all contribute to <br />increasing operations costs. In order to recuperate the costs associated with providing <br />these services, the City charges customers water and sewer rates. <br />The City recently approved water and sewer rate increases over the next three years. <br />Since that time, staff has researched possible bill assistance programs to offer <br />community members. In California, Water Code Section 106.3 establishes a statewide <br />policy of support for universal access to safe, clean, and affordable water for all human <br />beings. Redwood City's City Council and the Utilities Committee has expressed a desire <br />to create a program to make these essential, basic services affordable for all members <br />of the community. <br />ANALYSIS <br />Under the California Constitution, revenues collected from one customer's water and <br />sewer charges cannot be used to help offset the costs for another customer. However, <br />staff identified the Water Fund and Sewer Fund Penalties and Interest accounts as a <br />potential funding source for a utility bill assistance program. <br />The Water Fund and Sewer Fund Penalties and Interest accounts contain monies <br />collected by the City for overdue payments and interest from such payments, and are <br />not limited to the same constraints as regular utility charges. Staff propose funding <br />Redwood City's Utility Bill Assistance Program from Water Fund and Sewer Fund <br />