LEGEND OF TYPES OF FEES AND CHARGES


1) Recurring Fixed Charge - A recurring fixed charge is a flat rate charge that is charged on a regular periodic basis which is not subject to proration. This is usually the monthly billing charge.

2) Transactional Flat Fee - A transactional flat fee is a fee charged for a specific situation on a per transaction basis. This fee is also not prorated at move-in or move-out. These charges may include but are not limited to late fees, bounced check fees and on-line payments fees.

3) Metered Utility - A metered utility is one which is based upon the usage reading from a sub-meter , multiplied by the actual rate charged by the municipal billing agency. A sub-meter measures various utility usages such as gas, electricity or water for an individual residential or commercial unit. In many cases the usage from a water sub-meter may also be used to measure the amount of sewer usage to be charged.

Example: If the individual sub-metered usage for a unit was 2000 gallons, then the usage for the subordinate utility, in this case sewer usage, would also be 2000 gallons.

4) Allocation Charge - An allocation charge is needed when a meter is used for metering either the hot or cold water. The allocation is the charge for the un-metered usage of hot or cold water based on the percentage of metered usage as compared to the overall metered usage. The allocation is calculated as follows;


Example: Main Street Apartments receives a bill from the municipal water agency for 500,000 gallons of water for the month. Each apartment has an individual water heater on which a water sub-meter has been installed to measure the hot water. In our example Unit 1 has a metered hot water usage of 2000 gallons. There is a meter on the irrigation, laundry room and pool water supply lines which measures the amount of water used for the common area needs. The common area usage is deducted from the total municipal usage. The total of all the sub-meters is deducted from the total municipal usage. The remaining municipal usage is the un-metered cold water usage which needs to be allocated to each individual unit.        


Total municipal usage billed                                             500,000 gallons
Common area metered usage                                         (50,000) gallons
Residential hot and cold usage billed                             450,000 gallons
Total sub-metered hot water usage                              (200,000) gallons
Remaining cold water usage to be allocated                 250,000 gallons
Unit 1 metered hot water usage                                             2000 gallons
Total sub-metered hot water usage                                 200,000 gallons
Unit 1 usage as a percentage of the total                                     1%
Remaining cold water usage to be allocated                 250,000 gallons
Unit 1 cold water allocation is 1% of 250,000                      2500 gallons


Therefore Unit 1 would be billed for 2000 gallons of metered hot water and have an allocation of 2500 gallons for cold water. Both charges would be multiplied by the actual rate charged by the municipal billing agency.   


5) Ratio Utility Billing (RUBS) - Rubs billing is an estimated usage charge based on the number of residents occupying a unit as listed on the residential lease/rental agreement. Each unit is given a use factor as determined by the number of residents according the following table.


No. of Residents       Factor            Explanation
             1                         1.0               One person's consumption of the utilities.
             2                         1.6               Two people consume 60% more than one person.
             3                         1.9               Three people consume 90% more than one person.
             4                         2.2               Four people consume 120% more than one person.
             5                         2.5               Five people consume 150% more than one person.
             6                         2.8               Six people consume 180% more than one person.
          7 & Up               Plus .3           Additional .3 use factors for each additional resident.


To calculate the individual utility charge for each unit it is necessary to determined the ratio percentage between the individual use factor per unit and the total number of use factors for all of the units combined.  A common area usage for the irrigation, laundry room and pool is deducted from the total municipal bill for the specific utility being billed. The remaining result is the net residential usage. The net residential usage is then multiplied by the applicable ratio percentage for each unit. This charge is prorated based on move-in and move-out date.

Example: Main Street Apartments receives a bill from the municipal water agency for $2,500 for  water for the month. It is estimated that of  20% of the water is used for the common area irrigation, laundry room and pool. The common area usage is deducted from the total municipal usage. The total of all the unit’s Occupancy Use Factors combined is 100. In our example Unit 1 has 2 residents equaling a Occupancy Use Factor of 1.6.

Total municipal usage billed                                                                   $2500.00
Common area estimated usage 20%                                                   $(500.00)
Net residential usage billed                                                                     $2,000.00
Total number of Occupancy Use Factors                                              200    
Unit 1 Occupancy Use Factor usage                                                      1.6
Unit 1 usage as a percentage of the use factors                                 0.8%

The resident in Unit 1 is billed for .8% of $2000.00 or $16.00 for water.


Percentage based utility - A percentage based utility or charge is an amount divided equally among all of the units at a property and converted into a percentage. This charge is prorated based on move-in and move-out date. This charge is usually applicable to fixed charges on utilities that are not related to usage.  

Example: A 50 unit building has a monthly fixed charge for water of $200.00.

100% divided by 50 units, equals 2% per unit.
The resident in each unit is billed for 2% of $200.00 or $4.00 for the fixed charge.

7) Square Foot Charge - This charge is the number of square feet in each unit multiplied by the actual rate charged by the municipal billing agency for the applicable utility. This charge is prorated based on move-in and move-out date.

8) Cubic Foot Charge - This charge is the number of cubic feet in each unit multiplied by the actual rate charged by the municipal billing agency for the applicable utility. This charge is prorated based on move-in and move-out date.

9) Contract charge - This charge is an amount agreed upon for payment under a separate agreement. Usually this charge is for Rent, HOA Dues and Reserves or Cable/ Satellite TV services. This charge is prorated based on move-in and move-out date.