Willmar Utilities Commission hears breakdown of base fees charged to customers
Apr. 30---- The
Commission on Monday heard the annual customer service update in which director of administration Janell Johnson addressed a common customer complaint — high base fees.
"Our common complaint, and I want to highlight this because I want everybody to understand, the most common complaint we field up here ... base fees are too high," Johnson said, noting that, for her report, she broke down the base fees on utility bills and calculated that 53% of the total is imposed by the city.
She explained that for a residential customer, the monthly base fees charged by Willmar Municipal Utilities for electric and water service are $12.75 and $22.60, respectively, which account for 47% of the total base fees listed on a utility bill.
The monthly base fee charged by the city of Willmar for wastewater service is $39.04, accounting for the remaining 53% of the base fees charged on a utility bill. All wastewater charges of any kind, including the base fee, are collected by Willmar Municipal Utilities and transferred to the city.
Willmar Municipal Utilities also collects a franchise fee for electric service, which equates to an annual $2.1 million intergovernmental transfer to the city, according to Johnson. The franchise fee also reimburses Willmar Municipal Utilities for the operation and maintenance and energy costs for streetlights, security lights and traffic signal lights.
Johnson noted that the street lighting costs have been reduced by about half, to $105,000 in 2024, with the installation of new LED streetlights.
The electric and water base fees charged by Willmar Municipal Utilities cover the billing costs, the meters, capital improvement projects and future planning.
"Thank you for the breakdown of monthly base fees, and that's something we've talked about many, many, many times, and how to clarify that for customers," said Municipal Utilities Chair Shawn Mueske. "We field those complaints often ... I think it's kind of working for our customers to know where all their dollars go."
Johnson shared that Willmar Municipal Utilities' three customer service representatives monitor 10,600 electric connections and 7,000 water service connections, and bill approximately 10,500 customers per month, totaling about $47 million per year, $9 million of which goes to the city.
The customer service staff also processed nearly 3,500 service orders, with 154 new services added in 2024, 2,400 people moving in and out and 825 operation field service orders, according to Johnson.
In 2024, there were 82 accounts disconnected for nonpayment, which is up from 59 in 2023. Johnson said she expects that number to continue to increase in 2025.
Willmar Municipal Utilities helped secure nearly $500,000 in financial assistance for customers who need it through the Minnesota Department of Commerce, United Community Action Partnership, Kandiyohi County Housing & Redevelopment Authority and Kandiyohi County Family Services, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Minnesota rental assistance programs and the Salvation Army.
"These entities keep a lot of our customers viable and their power connected and their water flowing through their faucets," Johnson said.
Willmar Municipal Utilities collected unpaid utility bills using various techniques in 2024, including recapturing $41,248 from people's income tax refunds, $1,623 using a collection agency and $5,572 through tax liens on property taxes.
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