The City of Jordan sends bills for utility services every other month including charges for water, sewer, stormwater, and street lighting.  The funds collected are used to supply service, provide maintenance, support billing, and help fund capital improvements for past and future projects.  Each utility has a comprehensive plan.  The fees for the utilities are calculated based on the needs identified in the Comp Plans.  These Comp Plans are reviewed yearly to see that the funds are adequate to support the utility system.

The capital improvements needed are system wide expenses.  An example of the city’s improvements consist of the new 1998 wastewater treatment plant and reconstruction of the water, sewer, and storm water system.  In 2008 the City of Jordan upgraded its well system through a project that drilled a new well, rehabilitated the water treatment plant, and did maintenance on two other older wells.  The City collects capital charges on new housing to help pay for these capital items as well.  Most of the cost comes from capital and connection fees but a portion is collected from the user and availability fees which are explained below.

UTILITY FEES

On the semi-monthly utility bills the various items that may be charged to each citizen are:  water charges (flat, residential, and commercial), sewer charges (flat, residential, and commercial), storm water (residential or commercial), MN test fee, and the street lighting fees.

WATER FEES

The water utility portion of the bill consists of a flat fee and a user fee of either water residential or water commercial.  The fees and rates are the same for residential and commercial properties.

The flat fee, charged at a rate of $11.25/month, is an availability fee. Even if you do not use any water, this fee is charged as long as water is available to you.  It is based on the capacity available.

The user fee is collected at a rate per 1,000 gallons used.  The rates for usage in 2021 are:

• Up to 15,000 gallons is $6.15 per 1,000 gallons;
• Between 15,000 to 30,000 gallons is $7.87 per 1,000 gallons;
• Above 30,000 is $9.58 per 1,000 gallons.

There is also a fee for MN testing.  This fee is to help cover the costs associated with testing the city’s drinking water to check for contaminants and bacteria.  The test fee of $6.36 annually is collected on the first utility bill of the year and sent to the state.

SEWER FEES

The sewer utility portion of the bill consists of a flat fee and a user fee of either sewer residential or sewer commercial.  The fees and rates are the same for residential and commercial properties.

The flat fee, charged at a rate of $14.57/month, is an availability fee. This fee is charged even if there is no usage and is based on the capacity available.  The user fee is similar to the water fee as it is charged on a basis of 1,000 gallons used.  The fee for 2021 is $7.08 per 1,000 gallons for both residential and commercial usage.

STORMWATER FEES

The fees for stormwater are charged on a system wide basis to help pay for the cost of stormwater infrastructure.   The residential storm water fees are charged on a per unit rate of $7.00/month.  The commercial charges for stormwater are $21.02/acre per month.

STREET LIGHTING FEES

The City of Jordan charges a street lighting fee to help pay for the cost of maintenance and service of the city streetlights.  This fee is $1.95 per lot/month for residential and $4.53 per lot/month for commercial.

WATER METERING

The City of Jordan has a radio reading system for reading the water meters.  Each water meter has a radio device on it that sends the current reading to a computer in one of our public works trucks. This radio reading system is very precise and time saving for the City.  Every two months starting in January the meters are read by Public Works.

SEWER USAGE

The City of Jordan does not use a meter to read sewer usage.  The City takes the winter month’s water usage and averages the three readings from January, March and May each year.  These are called period 1, 3 and 5 which covers the usage from November through April.

After a new meter reading registers a new usage for one of these months it will take the previous year’s usage for the bill out of your average for the sewer usage.  The current usage is not used in periods 1, 3 or 5 to figure the average until the next bill.  This is done through the third bill of the year to figure your winter usage.  Your sewer usage will most likely change every period during the March, May and July bills.  It should then remain constant during the September, November and January bills.  We use this winter average because it is assumed that there is no lawn watering or other outside water usage during the winter months.  Thus all the water used in the winter is basically going down the sewer system.

In the event a citizen does not have any winter usage, an average of 12,500 is used.  Usage of 12,500 gallons is the average water usage for our City for residential accounts for a two-month period.  The sewer usage for all commercial accounts is the same as the water usage for each month.

If commercial accounts have extensive watering during the summer, a second water meter is recommended.  A commercial customer must request a second meter from the City.  If the City agrees that a second meter should be installed, the customer is required to pay for the new meter, reading system, and installation of the meter.  The City does not install newly-plumbed meters, so a plumber is needed.

QUESTIONS

Our staff would be happy to speak with you.  If you have any questions about your Jordan utility bill, please come down to City Hall or call 952-492-2535.

People who can best answer your questions are: Jayme Pekarna, Accountant; Susie Bendzick, Cashier; or Morey Schaefer, Finance Director.