Whitefish council considers changes to utility rules, fees

The Whitefish City Council will consider updating the city’s rules and regulations and revising fees for water, sewer and garbage utilities at its meeting on Tuesday.

According to a staff report by City Manager Dana Smith, the update to rules and regulations would be “one of the most substantial since 2011” with city residents seeing several major changes to their utility services and fees. A public hearing will be held on the proposed changes.

With the update, no deposit would be required for utility service, and all current deposits will be refunded. Owners or authorized property managers would receive the monthly utility bills, and accounts must be in the name of property owners or managers.

Meanwhile, utility bills not paid by the 20th of the month will be considered delinquent. The city will mail notices on the 25th of the month with no late fee; currently notices are mailed on the 21st and come with a $10 late fee.

The city will still hang door tags around the 29th of the month for those who have failed to pay, which will be a $25 fee, an increase to the current $15 penalty. If water service is turned off five days later, the fee will be $50 as opposed to the current $40 fee.

The city will also take over the billing process from Republic Services, and will begin billing on a monthly basis. Garbage service will appear on the same bill as water and sewer service.

“Implementation of these changes are expected to take up to five months as we will need to work through the deposits, accounts changeovers, and applying summer averaging to all accounts,” Smith said in her report. “We will work with property managers and owners who rent their property and will provide a letter for them to use in notifying their owners and renters of the changes.”

The council will also consider establishing a fee for team recreation programs. According to Maria Butts, the Parks, Recreation and Community Services director, it is way to address the lack of “success and sustainability” of the city’s adult recreation programs.

The current fee system is based on individual participation rates. With the change, the city would establish a tier system for fees based on the number of participants on a team.

During a work session from 6 to 7 p.m. the council will hear updates on the Central Recycling Center and Baker Avenue Underpass project.

The council meets at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday at Whitefish City Hall.