Understanding Your Utility Bill

City utility bills, including charges for water, sewer, street lights, storm drainage, and recycling, are mailed quarterly. Each utility billing period covers three months.

The City's water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and recycling funds are handled as enterprise funds. This means the amount you pay for those utilities covers the entire cost of providing the service, maintenance and repair of each system, and any improvements to the system. Your property taxes do not fund anything related to those utilities.

Decoding Your Bill
Paying Your Bill
Free Automatic Payment Plan
Understanding Meter Readings
How To Monitor Your Water Consumption

Decoding Your Bill

Your utility bill is divided into two parts. The top half you return with your payment, and the bottom half has information you'll want to keep for your records. Directly above your name and address is a thin boxed section that includes your account number, customer number, the amount you owe, and the date your payment is due. If you have questions regarding your bill, contact the utility billing clerk at 763-593-8016.

The information in the "Account Summary" box on the right side of your bill is an itemized report of the amount you owe.

Billing: This is the amount of your last utility bill. If your bill is higher this time, you are using more water.
Payments: This is the amount you paid on your last bill. More than likely, you have paid the bill in full and your payment will be equal to your previous bill.
Adjustments & Penalties: If there are any adjustments to your bill, or if you were late with your last payment, the amount you are penalized or credited will show up here.

The next several lines itemize the various utility charges you must pay each quarter. Besides the actual service (such as delivery of water), your fees fund maintenance and improvement of the City's utilities systems as a whole.

Water: Golden Valley buys its water from the City of Minneapolis. The amount you owe for water depends on the number of gallons you used during the billing period. This includes a base rate of $6 for the first 1,000 gallons (effective 4-1-10) as well as a rate for each 1,000 gallons used over that amount.
Sewer: Residents are charged a flat rate for each billing period to cover costs for the disposal and treatment of sewage via metrowide sewage treatment plants operated by Metropolitan Council Environmental Services. Your sewer rate is based on your winter quarter water consumption.
State Testing Fee: The State charges Golden Valley to test its water for impurities. This charge is passed through to the City's customers.
Recycling: Almost one third of Golden Valley's weekly curbside recycling program is funded by Hennepin County. Your fee covers the remainder of the program as well as the City's Spring Brush Pick-Up and Fall Leaf Drop-Off.
Storm Drainage: This fee, which covers street and storm pond cleaning, is based on acreage and type of property use (typical residential lot is 1/3 acre).
Street Lights: Residents who directly benefit from a standard street light are charged for half the cost of operating the light (tax revenue covers the rest). The fee is slightly higher for decorative street lights.
Certification: This administrative fee is charged annually to residents who aren't paying their utility bills. The fee is then certified to their property tax bill.

Paying Your Bill

There are two ways to pay your utility bill:

By Mail or In Person

Tear off the top half of your bill and mail it to the City of Golden Valley (see address on the right side of the bill) or put it in drop box located near the front door of City Hall along with a check or money order. Payment must be received on or before the date listed (postmark date is not acceptable) to avoid a 10% penalty fee.

FreeAutomatic Payment Plan

Earn a $1 credit per utility bill, save postage, and avoid late fees by using the City's free Automatic Payment Plan. To pay your utility bill automatically, simply complete an authorization form and return it with a voided check (for checking accounts) or deposit slip (for savings accounts) to City Hall. Make sure both the bank and individual account routing numbers, located at the bottom of the check or deposit slip (for example: :091400046:200030119), are visible.

Utility bills are sent quarterly, so if the authorization is returned with the current payment the first automatic payment should occur with the next billing. Continue to pay your bill as usual, however, until the message "Do Not Pay—Automatic Bank Withdrawal On Due Date" appears on the top of your bill.

Your monthly bank statement will reflect the automatic payment, and your next billing will also include a debit for the amount of the billing on it.

If you change bank accounts, just complete a new authorization form (or call 763-593-8016 to have a form sent to you). Then return the form, along with a voided check, to City Hall by mail or drop it at City Hall in the box marked "Utilities" near the front door.

The City does not accept credit cards or pay by phone payments. "Bank Pay" payments do not qualify for the $1 credit as they require a manual payment entry.

Understanding Meter Readings

Present Reading: Your meter measures the water you use in thousand gallon units. If your current reading is 1200, that means you have used 1,200,000 gallons of water since your meter was installed.

Previous Reading: The difference between your previous reading and your current reading is the amount of water you have used during the billing period.

Usage: This is the amount of water you have used in the three-month billing period.

Other Consumption: This is reserved for businesses; most homes won't have any other consumption.

Total Consumption: This is the total amount of water you used during the billing period.