by JONATHAN YORK
Thirty-seven pages into the contract between the city of Kyle and its sewage company, there’s a piece of paper called Appendix F.
Appendix F is a headache if you’re unfamiliar with terms like CPI, SUE and mgd, but if you trust city officials, Appendix F means something like this: the more sewage goes through the plant over time, the lower the rate that the city has to pay.
The bill depends on three elements: The daily average of gallons used over a month (in millions); the price index published by the U.S. Department of Labor; and the actual gallons of sewage used in a month (in thousands).
The city claims that as its daily average goes up the price per gallon (adjusted to the federal index) goes down. The price per gallon is then applied to the actual number of gallons used. Thence comes the sewer bill.
For most people it’s hard to envision a million gallons of raw sewage. How many times would the toilet have to back up to give you that?
But the principle might seem more familiar when we think about groceries. Especially liquids. Whether we buy soda, milk, olive oil, fruit juice, wine or beer, we generally pay more per ounce to buy a smaller container. We pay less per ounce when we buy in large quantities.
The city claims that its agreement with Aqua Texas includes a bulk discount. Aqua Texas claims that it’s more complicated. The company argues that several different prices per thousand gallons can all be charged on the same bill.
Aqua Texas sued for breach of contract last week.
