The Town of Okotoks has made some changes to the rates and fees in regards to Bylaw 2518.

Utilities Specialist for the town, Mike Colbert, says there are 5 new rates, which include a manual meter reading fee.

" There's a manual water meter reading rate, which is to cover the cost of staff going to people's properties." said Colbert.

He says the town has invested in direct meters, and this fee will effect those who still have not made the switch from the old style meter.

Another change is choosing a paperless billing system, which will earn residents a rebate on their bi-monthly town utility bill.

"We're offering a two-dollar rebate on each bill to go paperless, all people have to do is sign up with our utilities department." Colbert said.

Those interested can send an email to utilities at okotoks.ca to sign up, and the rebate will be applied to the bill until the end of 2019.

The rest of the changes apply in regards to non-potable water.

" We've introduced a new rate of four dollars per cubic meter, so there are some savings for contractors who are all being directed to use the non-potable system, which keeps them off the potable system." said Colbert.

Two additional fees added are administrative related for account set ups, which is twenty-five dollars and replacement cards which are fifteen dollars.

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