KV Water Submetering Approved

At the Board of Directors' Meeting on October 27, 2016, the Board voted to approve the water submetering project with Utility Submetering Solutions (USS). The Board had been considering this measure to address the current budget issue. This is a five year contract with USS. Utility Submetering Solutions will maintain all water meters at their expense, and conduct all readings, billings, and collections as part of their contract. This was in response to the current budget crisis that Kinney Village (KV) was facing due to the City of Tucson’s implementing sewer charges in November 2015. The Association should have been paying sewer charges all along; however, for some reason the community was never charged. The City apparently caught this error when they conducted an audit, which included Kinney Village and other residences/communities that had not been paying sewer charges.

As a result, the KV water/sewer costs increased from $27,000 to nearly $49,000 annually. The Association’s current budget was unable to handle this substantial increase at the current monthly HOA dues of $130 for each owner. Therefore, either the HOA dues had to be raised, or other measures had to be taken to address this financial crisis.

If you recall, a survey was conducted with all owners to determine how to best address it; with options being to raise HOA dues, conduct special assessments when needed, or have owners pay for their own water usage through submetering. Of the 27 survey forms returned, 21 favored water submetering as a matter of fairness.

Therefore, after further discussion at the meeting on the 27^th, the Board determined that the only viable way to address the shortfall in the 2016 budget and the upcoming 2017 budget was to implement water submetering, which would also help with water conservation. Each owner would only be responsible for the amount of water they use, and not be assisting in paying for over usage by some other owners. This would create voluntary conservation, as well as allowing owners to control their own monthly cost of water.

Water submetering does come with associated costs of $5.00 for meter rental and $5.75 for administrative billing charges per meter. To further assist owners, the Board voted to have the Association pay for these charges as well as to lower the monthly HOA dues from $130 to $120 a month. The Association will still incur water charges in regards to irrigation, pool use, and pool bathroom use.

If you have not already, each owner will be receiving a letter from Utility Submetering Solutions regarding submetering and the upcoming installation of submeters. Currently, USS will begin installation the week of November 28^th and is scheduled to be completed by December 7, 2016. Their letter explains how an owner/tenant can check to see if there are leaks occurring in the unit, i.e. leaking toilets, etc. that would contribute to excess water usage. A read of the meters will be done on the last day of installation and again approximately January 5th. This will be the first bill cycle. Bills are due upon receipt and late 17 days from the mailing date, which will then be subject to late fees. There is an Autopay form enclosed with their letter so that you may enroll in their free automatic debit program.

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.

This was not an easy decision, as no one wants to have to pay more; however, under the circumstances there were very few options. In order to maintain the community and meet its expenses, revenue has to be increased. For the 2017 budget, line items have been drastically cut to help offset expenses. We can only hope that there are no unforeseen expenditures in 2017.

The Board hopes you understand the necessity for this action, and appreciates your patience during this installation and transition period. If you have any questions, please ask!