Section 326.30. Reasonableness of water and sewer rates.

  A manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor may establish general service charges for water and sewer service in one of the following ways:

(1)  

(a) If a manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor purchases water and sewer service and resells the service to the manufactured home community occupants where the service is not metered, the maximum allowable water and sewer bill to each manufactured home community occupant may not exceed the lesser of the manufactured home community's water and sewer bill, plus 30%, divided by the number of occupied lots within the community, or the retail rates of the local municipality's water and sewer operation applied to the average user. The bill to each manufactured home community occupant shall be based on the previous billing cycle of the service provider. The average user is one whose consumption is equal to the volume of water billed to the manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor, divided by the number of occupied lots or occupants within the manufactured home community. The allowable bill also includes the combination of all other charges to a typical residential customer, including such items as meter and storm water charges.

(b) If a manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor purchases water and sewer service and resells the service to the manufactured home community occupants where the service is metered, the maximum allowable water and sewer billing rate to each manufactured home community occupant may not exceed the local residential meter rate based on volume plus the combination of all other charges to a typical residential customer, including such items as meter and storm water charges.

(2)  If a manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor owns the water supply facilities or the sewerage treatment facilities that serve the manufactured home community, the water charge to a manufactured home community occupant may not exceed the average amount charged for a similar level of water utility service furnished by Wisconsin Class D water public utilities. The charge for sewer service may not exceed 2.5 times the charge for Wisconsin Class D water service.

(3)  

(a) A manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor may establish water and sewer rates in excess of those set forth in sub. (1) or (2) if the manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor can provide written documentation to the department that demonstrates that higher charges are necessary to meet the reasonable costs associated with all or part of the requirements for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, extension, operation, maintenance, repair, or depreciation of the water and sewer system and for the payment of all or part of the principal and interest of any indebtedness associated with providing water and sewer service at a reasonable cost.

(b) A manufactured home community operator or manufactured home community contractor shall provide a written explanation of rates upon request of a manufactured home community occupant, and at any time rates are increased.

CR 04-135 : cr. Register February 2006 No. 602 , eff. 3-1-06; CR 14-017 : am. (1) (a), (b) Register August 2014 No. 704 , eff. 9-1-14.

Note

The 30% additional charge is intended to recover the operational, maintenance, and capital costs associated with the facilities within the manufactured home community. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Information relative to the rates of Wisconsin Class D water public utilities is available from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission Web site at www.psc.wi.gov . See Bulletin 25. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1