HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/20/2019 Item 13, Orvis
From:Sierra Orvis <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:ITEM 13 - SEWER LATERAL REBATES
Dear SLO City Council,
On the current agenda, you will be considering rebates and fee reductions for sewer lateral replacements. In my
experience with incentives, you generally are trying to get someone to do something that they otherwise wouldn't do,
or wouldn't do as soon without the incentive. You look at the cost of the incentive versus the savings (of whatever type
it is: dollars, gallons, energy, etc). You also look at ways to minimize "free-loaders" (people who would do the thing on
about the same timeline without the incentive). It was noted in the text that the city was considering having the rebates
be retroactive extending back to 2017, with an estimated cost in the neighborhood of $250k. If I understand correctly,
the sewer laterals installed to date were done with no implied or promised rebate. Paying out those rebates provides
the city with no benefit for the $1/4M. If the intent of the rebates is to get as many older sewer laterals replaced as the
city can for their (our) money, I would urge you to consider carefully what our city will get for paying rebates for laterals
that were already replaced.
Respectfully,
Sierra Layous
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