6.3. ERMUSR 04-08-2003 rlk River
Municipal Utilities
322 King Avenue phone: 763.441.2020
Elk River,MN 55330 Fax:763.441.8099
April 2, 2003
To: Elk River Municipal Utilities Commission
John Dietz
Jerry Takle
James Tralle
From: Bryan C. Adams
Subject: Meter Reading Costs
The Elk River Municipal Utilities contracts our meter reading function to McBrady Meter
Reading. Pat McBrady has been reading our meters since 1988 and has done a great job
for us. Currently it takes Pat and his three employees 10 days to read our meters. It is
currently required that the meter reading be done in the first half of the month so the bills
can be processed, verified, and in the mail by the 25th of the month.
Attached for your information is Pat McBrady's increase in meter reading
reimbursement. Also attached is the history of our meter reading unit and annual costs.
We are currently surveying other utilities to verify their costs and meter reading
arrangements.
Pat McBrady
19018 159 Ave
Park Rapids, MN 56470
Elk River Utilities
322 King Ave
Elk River, MN 55330
Brian Adams,
It's been three years since the last contract negations and two years since there was any pay increase.
I have retained three excellent employees and would like all of us to get a raise. In light of this, I am
asking for a modest increase of approximately 5% this year and 3% the following year outlined
below:
2003 2004
Electric or Route with only water reads $.56 $.58 per meter
Water readings $.38 $.40 per meter
Demand readings $.20 $.21 per meter
Readouts $6.85 $7.00 per readout
Disconnects/reconnects $8.65 $8.90 per disconnect
Any additional work from the company will be billed at $22 per person hour 2003
$23 per person hour 2004
We still have 20—30 problem water meters in commercial applications taking way more time and
effort than the $.36 we get paid for the reading. I have covered these problems previously. I would
like an extra$2 times 22 problem meters for a total of$44 monthly, extra, to cover the time and
expenses involved with acquiring these readings. The extra time and effort may seem trivial but
these readings average 5 to 10 minutes extra, times 25, and that creates an extra 2 to 3 extra hours of
reading, which I get paid around $9 for. These cost me a great deal more than that. When all the
problem meters are taken care of this fee can be eliminated.
Thank You
Pat McBrady
Sheetl
Elk River Municipal Utilities
Pat McBrady Meter Reading Cost Structure
Cost History
Date Electric Water Reconnect Demand Water Average Cost Annual %Increase
Meter Meter Readout Disconnect Meter Diff. Only Per Read Cost
7/1/88 $0.30 $0.15 $5.00 $5.00 $0.00 $0.00
7/1/90 $0.32 $0.17 $5.00 $5.00 $0.00 $0.00
7/1/92 $0.35 $0.20 $5.00 $5.00 $0.00 $0.00
4/1/94 $0.35 $0.20 $5.50 $5.50 $0.00 $0.00
6/1/96 $0.42 $0.25 $5.75 $5.75 $0.00 $0.00
5/1/98 $0.48 $0.31 $5.75 $5.75 $0.15 $0.00
5/1/99 $0.50 $0.33 $5.75 $5.75 $0.15 $0.50
6/1/01 $0.53 $0.36 $6.50 $8.25 $0.15 $0.53
6/1/03 $0.56 $0.38 $6.85 $8.65 $0.15 $0.56
6/1/04 $0.58 $0.40 $7.00 $8.90 $0.15 $0.58
Annual Costs
1997 Total Costs $28,614.60 $6,437.00 $9,419.00 $4,036.00 $0.52 $48,506.60
1998 Total Costs $32950.26 $8,136.77 $8,984.00 $3,850.00 $272.85 $0.54 $54,193.88 5.32%
1999 Total Costs $36,546.32 $9,728.86 $8,219.00 $3,522.00 $336.15 $120.00 $0.56 $58,472.33 2.94%
2000 Total Costs $38,395.00 $10,662.63 $8,899.00 $3,814.00 $371.25 $268.50 $0.57 $62,410.38 1.61%
2001 Total Costs $41,822.10 $12,215.82 $8,346.00 $8,165.00 $430.86 $321.01 $0.60 $71,300.79 5.62%
2002 Total Costs $44,662.04 $13,280.04 $11,518.00 $6,649.50 $456.84 $354.57 $0.64 $76,920.99 5.89%
2003 Costs w/2002
Meter Count $47,190.08 $14,017.82 $12,138.20 $6,971.90 $456.84 $374.64 $0.67 $81,149.48 5.50%
2004 Costs w/2002
Meter Count $48,875.44 $14,755.60 $12,404.00 $7,173.40 $456.84 $388.02 $0.70 $84,053.30 3.58%
t
Meter Reading Survey from 1999
i
AEC In-house $.45/meter(walking route only)
AEC(Orion) $.55-$.95/meter Average @$.75/meter
W-H (RMR) $.65/meter additional meter @$.16/meter
Austin Contract $.65-$70/meter
Austin In-house $.80-$1.00/meter
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