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1. At a glance, how will my bill change?

The City of Edina has new fees and rates for water, sewer, stormwater, meters and connections effective Jan. 1, 2023. Notably, the tiered rate structure for water use has changed for many property types (how the price per 1,000 gallons is calculated), except for Morningside and Multifamily customers who will be charged a flat rate per unit of 1,000 gallons. Depending on your property type, your quarterly bills may decrease if you are a low-volume consumer of water or increase if you are a medium- or high-volume consumer. 

Later in 2023, the City plans to begin using new billing software, resulting in changes to how your bill looks.

2. Will this change how I pay my bill?

No, this will not change or affect how you pay your bill. No action is required by customers, and all methods of payment have stayed the same.

3. Why did utility fees and rates change?

The fee and rate changes result from a utility rate study (PDF) initiated by the City and conducted by the City’s financial advisor, Ehlers & Associates, to meet the following goals:

• Recover the costs of operating and maintaining the utility system
• Pay for reinvestments in the aging utility system and expand system capacity 
• Incentivize water conservation in support of the Climate Action Plan (PDF) 
• Make water and sewer more affordable for lower-volume customers

4. What are the water and sewer changes?

Water Tiered Rate Structure 

• Adjustments to the tiered water rate structure for many properties where low-volume residential customers will pay less and medium and high-volume customers will pay a higher fee for each unit of 1,000 gallons of water

 Sewer

• Rate Increase
  The rate for sewer increased from $6.30 to $6.86 per unit of 1,000 gallons.
• Residential Customers
  The sewer charge for residential customers is now based on the metered water use in the winter billing quarter or actual, whichever is lesser, but not less than the new minimum of 8,000 gallons. 
• Multifamily, Commercial/Industrial and Sewer-Only Customers
  The sewer charge for multifamily, commercial/industrial and sewer-only customers is now based on actual metered water usage or a minimum of 8,000 gallons.

5. What are the changes to connection fees?

 Connection Fees

• Stormwater, meter and water connection fees increased 3-8% over 2022 rates.
• The Sewer Access Connection (SAC) fee imposed by the City and paid by developers for new connections to the sewer system associated with new developments increased by 28% over the 2022 rate.

6. Why did commercial/industrial water rates decrease?

The commercial/industrial rates were changed for two reasons. The first is the overall revenue generated by commercial customers to be proportionate to the demands they place on the system as measured by the proportion of water used by commercial/industrial customers. The second reason is that most commercial customers have irrigation meters. For residential customers, the City wanted to send price signals to conserve water primarily by using less water for irrigation. Since residential customers don’t have separate irrigation meters, that price signal needed to be incorporated into the overall residential rate structure by tightening the tiers. Since commercial customers have separate irrigation meters, the price signal gets incorporated into the irrigation rate structure.

7. Did Morningside water rates change?

The Morningside area will continue to be charged a flat rate per unit of 1,000 gallons. The 2023 rate is $4.58 per 1,000 gallons, billed quarterly. 

8. What will the new bill look like?

The City will begin using new billing software in early 2023, which will result in a new bill layout. Your bill will look different than in the past. All customers will be mailed a “Know Your Bill” document before the new system launches. It will be a helpful guide for understanding your new utility bill.

9. How do I switch to paperless billing?

After logging into your account, from the homepage, click "Paperless." Next, click the "Yes" radio button and read and check the box agreeing to Invoice Cloud's terms and conditions. Finally, click "Save my changes." Paperless billing will now be enabled.

Once you are signed up for paperless billing, all communications are through email. This includes notices of when a credit card needs to be updated. Please check your junk mail for emails from Invoice Cloud and add them to your contacts.

10. Who should I contact with questions?

If you have questions regarding utility fees and rates, please contact Utility Billing at 952-826-0373 or [email protected].