December 2022 Bill Insert: Omaha 2023 Sewer Use Charges

OMAHA’S 2023 SEWER USE CHARGES
EFFECTIVE: JANUARY 1, 2023

• Omaha Sewer Use Fees
  • 402-444-3908
  • 7:00AM – 3:30PM weekdays
• Household Hazardous Chemical Disposal
  • 402-444-7465
  • UnderTheSink: Open to Douglas and Sarpy County residents
    • www.underthesink.org
• Dust or Mud from Construction Site
  • 402-444-3908
• Report Spills or Dumping into Storm Inlets
  • www.omahastormwater.org
  • 402-444-3908
• Air Quality or Asbestos
  • 402-444-6015
• Sewer problems
  • 402-444-5332
• Odor Complaints or Manure Spills
  • 402-444-4919
• Omaha Garbage, Recycling or Yard Waste Collection Complaints or Information
  • 402-444-5238
  • www.wasteline.org
• Oma-Gro compost
  • 402-444-6665
  • www.omagro.com
• Snow Removal
  • 402-444-4919
• Traffic Signal Not Working
  • 402-444-5160
• Potholes, Curb Repairs, Debris or Litter Blocking Street
  • 402-444-4919
• 24-Hour Public Works Emergency Response & Repairs
  • 402-444-4919

Your Sewer Use Fee at Work

The City of Omaha owns and operates the regional wastewater treatment system that serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers within the City of Omaha and for the majority of the metro area, including most of Douglas County and the areas within Sarpy county that fall within the Papillion Creek drainage area. The City operates two Water Resource Recovery Facilities (WRRF’s) and over 3000 miles of sanitary and combined sewers that collects the wastewater from the areas served.

The bills you pay into the City’s Sewer Revenue Fund provide for the operation and maintenance, along with needed capital improvements to the wastewater collection and treatment system. This in turn provides for the safe collection and disposal of sanitary sewage for Omaha and the metro area.

In 2010, the City began implementation of the Clean Solutions for Omaha (CSO! Program), an unfunded federal mandate that requires Omaha to reduce the overflows of raw sewage into the Missouri River and Papillion Creek and improve water quality to meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards by 2037. To date this program has successfully implemented upgrades that have reduced the impacts of overflows of sewage to the receiving streams by 50%.

Recently the City has completed a Wastewater Facilities Masterplan that has laid the foundation for upgrades that will be implemented at the two WRRF’s over the next 20 years, ensuring that these facilities will have the ability to meet the demands of a growing metro area and stricter federal guidelines for treatment.

Questions on your bill, or on the City of Omaha’s wastewater collection and treatment system, call: City of Omaha Environmental Quality at 402-444-3908.

How Your Omaha Residential Sewer Bill is Calculated

The City of Omaha sets sewer use rates and is responsible for the sewer system. The Metropolitan Utilities District (M.U.D.) is the billing agent that invoices and collects sewer use fees and provides them back to the City. The combined bill is a cost savings to both
Omaha sewer users and M.U.D. ratepayers.

Residential sewer rates are the total of two charges:

1. Customer Charge (fixed monthly fee)
2. Flow Charge (varies with usage)

The monthly sewer use fee during the winter season is based on the actual amount of water used. The winter season will encompass four billing cycles, starting with the M.U.D. December billing cycle and ending with the March billing cycle. The four winter billing cycles are averaged to determine a base monthly usage level that will be used during the non-winter period to calculate sewer fees. In some instances, the base monthly usage level may be reviewed and adjusted as appropriate.

During the non-winter period, from April’s billing cycle through November’s billing cycle, the sewer use fee is calculated by using either 1) the actual water use during that specific billing cycle or 2) the base monthly usage level (the average of the four winter billing cycles) whichever is less. Remember, your water use in the winter can impact your bills
throughout the rest of the year.

Comparison of 2022 and 2023 Monthly Residential Sewer Bill

WATER USE IN CCF1	CUSTOMER	CHARGE	FLOW	CHARGE2	TOTAL	CHARGE
	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022	2023
1	$42.06	$44.27	$3.61	$3.80	$45.67	$48.07
2	$42.06	$44.27	$7.22	$7.60	$49.28	$51.87
3	$42.06	$44.27	$10.83	$11.39	$52.89	$55.66
4	$42.06	$44.27	$14.44	$15.19	$56.50	$59.46
5	$42.06	$44.27	$18.05	$18.99	$60.11	$63.26
6	$42.06	$44.27	$21.65	$22.79	$67.32	$70.86
7	$42.06	$44.27	$25.26	$26.59	$67.32	$70.86
8	$42.06	$44.27	$28.87	$30.38	$70.93	$74.65
9	$42.06	$44.27	$36.09	$34.18	$78.15	$78.45
10	$42.06	$44.27	$36.09	$37.98	$78.15	$82.25
12	$42.06	$44.27	$43.31	$45.58	$85.37	$89.85
14	$42.06	$44.27	$50.53	$53.17	$92.59	$97.44

Sample Calculation Using 6 CCF

These rates apply only to residential customers within the City of Omaha and those in the unincorporated portion of Douglas County. Call 402-444-3908 for more information. communities outside of Omaha which are part of the regional wastewater system will likely also see adjustments in their rates.

Ratepayer Assistance Program

A fund was established in 2011 to provide low-income customers with sewer use fee assistance. Residents who qualify for Nebraska’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) also qualify for sewer rate assistance. Since 2011, over $17.5 million in sewer assistance has been provided to residential ratepayers.

To see if you qualify for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), call the Nebraska Economic Assistance Omaha Office at 402-595-1258.

https://www.accessnebraska.ne.gov/

Sewer Use Fee Contacts

Sewer use fee contacts in each jurisdiction of the metropolitan Omaha area:

City of Bellevue…………………………………….402-293-3135
City of Bennington………………………………….402-238-2375
City of Gretna ………………………………………402-332-3336
City of LaVista ……………………………………..402-331-4343
City of Omaha……………………………………….402-444-3908
City of Papillion ……………………………………..402-597-2020
City of Ralston………………………………………402-331-6677
Unincorporated Portions
of Sarpy County ……………………………………402-593-1555

OMAHA’S 2023
SEWER USE CHARGES
EFFECTIVE: JANUARY 1, 2023