The District
has adopted a user pay philosophy as it relates to
water consumption and municipal sewer costs.
Charges are based on meter readings, which are read
and billed every four months.
Water
Rates:
Virtually
all properties in the District have water meters.
Water is measured in “units”; one unit is equal to
623 gallons or 2,832 litres. The rates approved by
Municipal Council for 2008 are $1.44 per unit in
addition to a basic charge of $135.74 per year
($0.3719 per day).
These rates
apply to all properties except those that have more
than two apartments. For those will more than two
apartments, the basic charge is $67.87 per year
($0.1860 per day) multiplied by the number of
apartments; the consumption charge remains the same.
When there
is a change in ownership or occupancy and a special
meter reading is requested, a charge of $30.00 will
be added to the next utility bill.
Sewer
Rates:
The sewer
charges on the utility bill are used to recover a
portion of the municipal costs to run the sewer
system and a portion of the Capital Regional
District’s (CRD) sewer debt costs. The CRD sewer
debt costs are for debt incurred after 2006 for
sewer work relating to Oak Bay. The 2008 municipal
sewer user rate is $0.7425 per unit of water used and
the CRD sewer debt user rate is $.2490 per unit.
These rates
are applied to 100% of the water used by properties
that are not residential, have mixed use, or have
two water meters. In the last case, there are no
sewer charges for the water that is used through the
garden meter. For all other residential properties,
the charges are calculated on 80% of the water
consumed.
Utilities
Payment
Utility bills may be paid by cash, cheque or bank
debit card at the Municipal Hall, or by electronic
transfer by telephone if you deal with a financial
institution that supports this type of bill
payment. Check with your financial institution for
further details if you wish to use the last option.
The District also offers a direct debit service
whereby the outstanding balance is directly paid on
the due date.
If you are interested in this plan, please click
here: Automatic Debit Program
Form . For more
information about the direct debit option please
contact the Utility Clerk at 598-3311.
