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AW 4 1984 BOOK 56 PAGE 627 <br />Mr. Raftelis explained the reason for this cap is to <br />deal with the argument that if you water your lawn a lot or <br />wash your car, etc., that water is not being returned to the <br />sewer and, therefore, you should not have to pay a sewer <br />charge on that excess water. Their studies show that if you <br />use over 12,000 gallons per month, chances are that <br />additional water is not being returned to the sewer. <br />Commissioner Wodtke wished to know if the same 12,000 <br />gallon cap applies to multi -family, and Mr. Raftelis stated <br />that it would on a per unit basis (ERU). <br />Chairman Scurlock noted that the question about water <br />used on the lawn and not returned to the sewer has been <br />brought up quite frequently, but because of the difficulty <br />of finding an accurate way to meter sewage, water tradi- <br />tionally is used as the basis for charging for sewer. <br />Mr. Raftelis emphasized that you will never find a rate <br />system that creates perfect equity because this would <br />necessitate having a unique charge for every customer on the <br />system. Therefore, it is important to look at all issues <br />in trying to set the charge, and the irrigation issue is an <br />example of trying to reach equity. <br />Director Pinto noted that this cap does not apply to <br />commercial accounts. <br />Commissioner Lyons reemphasized to those present that <br />what we are trying to do is to recover our costs without <br />being a burden on the ad valorem taxpayer and, at the same <br />time, we are trying to come as near as possible to break <br />even so we do not run an operation that is generating money <br />to go into the tax fund. <br />Chairman Scurlock also stressed that we know the rate <br />we have to have to support the operation, but the main <br />question to be resolved is how to allocate the cost and do <br />it equitably. <br />12 <br />