EXPLANATION OF KV WATER/SEWER BILL – UTILITY SUBMETERING SYSTEMS

Every owner will be, if not already, receiving a water/sewer bill from Utility Submetering Systems (USS) in the next few days. The bill is being mailed to the address on file for each owner. If you have not updated your address by completing and returning the Owner Information Contact Form, please do so as your earliest convenience.This is an explanation of the bill:

The January bill will reflect the following charges:

1) Water Usage: Based on the actual number of gallons used

2) Water Base Fee: This is a service charge by the City of Tucson on the HOA water/sewer bill. This cost is divided equally among all owners, which should be about $7.98 a month.

3) Sewer Fee: For January’s bill, this is based on actual water usage, with a minimum charge of $11, and a maximum charge of $23. The Board has deemed this method unfair to those owners that are conserving water and have usage under 2,000 gallons a month. Therefore, the Board has instructed USS to change the billing method for the sewer rate to be based on “Actual Usage” only (no minimum). This will be reflected on the February bill.

4) Equipment Rental Fee: $4.60; this was mistakenly charged to owners by USS, who will be providing a credit on February’s bill.

5) Billing Fee: $5.75; this was mistakenly charged to owners by USS, who will be providing a credit on February’s bill.

6) State & City Taxes: Self Explanatory

This January bill will actually be $10.35 more than it should have been, based on the fact the Equipment Rental Fee and the Billing Fee should not have been on the bill. The Board decided at the last meeting to have the HOA pay these costs. As stated above, a credit will be given on next month’s bill for these charges. If you have low water usage (below 2,000 gallons) and are showing an $11 sewer fee, this will be lower next month, as it will be based on actual water usage.

The Board realizes that this extra water/sewer expense translates into a higher cost to live at Kinney Village, but with the increased sewer costs (approx. $19,000 a year) associated with the water bill since November 2015 there really was no alternative. If it had been known earlier about the sewer fees, the HOA dues would have had to be increased for 2016. Just to maintain the budget, the Board would have had to increase dues to $170 a month, or go to submetering. At least with submetering, owners have some control over the increase with their water usage. The more you conserve, the more you save.

In an effort to help offset these costs, the Board agreed to lower the monthly HOA fees from $130 to $120 this year, with the HOA paying for the meter rentals and the USS billing fee. Please remember that the HOA will still be paying for water usage for irrigation and the pool/spa, so there will still be a HOA water/sewer expense which is paid through monthly HOA dues.

Homeowners who have leased their property may transfer the billing to their tenant. The Arizona Landlord/Tenant Act statute Section 33-1314.01 states:

"A. A landlord may charge separately for gas, water, wastewater, solid waste removal or electricity by installing a submetering system or by allocating the charges separately through a ratio utility billing system... For any existing tenancies, the landlord shall provide at least ninety (90) days' notice to the tenant before the landlord begins using a submetering system or allocating costs through a ratio utility billing system."

The contract with USS states: "USS will bill tenants as a courtesy to the Homeowner. If the tenant fails to pay, the Homeowner is responsible for the utility cost. If you wish to bill your tenant directly, you must call Utility Submetering Systems at 602-200-9205 and request it. At that time they will confirm the address, phone, etc. and go over the policy stated in the Agreement. If you request duplicate billing, in order to receive a copy of the tenant's bill, it will cost $1.85 and may be charged to the tenant.

Any questions or concerns regarding the bill or submetering can be directed to USS at 602 200-9205 or toll free at 1 844 877-1650 or by email at info@utilitysubmeteringsystems.com. Homeowners should mail all water payments to their office along with the remittance stub from the statement. They cannot accept Canadian checks.

If you wish to setup auto-pay, you may contact them for the appropriate form and directions.