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<br />the city of Denver because of the lack of universal metering in D~nver. <br />Denver has been metering for a.number of years and has required that <br />meters be installed in all new construction, and that policy goes back <br />for quite a number of years. However, there are some eighty thousand <br />old homes in Denver for. which meters have never been installed; There <br />is a very obvious problem concerning the installation of meters any- I <br />where in the state, and that is the cost. In some cases, the metering <br />can be accomplished for as little as $150.; . In other cases ,.: that cost <br />may go up: to somewhere around $900.perhome. The.impact of metering in <br />Denver and in other places where old housing exists is that many of <br />the people occupying that old housing are on fixed.incomes--01d age <br />pension or retirement income--and, in fact, many of them are on welfare. <br /> <br />The. question. is how to spread that cost so that. the cost per individual <br />over the years is a very minimal cost. The only way that can be done <br />is through long-term amortization .of the cost,.rather than an initial <br />full assessment of the cost when the meter.is insta11e~. Under the <br />long~term amortization, the cost is greater because of the. interest, <br />but. the burden is spread over more:people and it's fairly easy to <br />absorb. In most: cases , the additional cost for the installation of <br />meters will run from around 50~:to $1.50 a month additional.charges on <br />the water bill. <br /> <br />The Governor made some contact with the:officia1s.of the city of- Denver <br />and he has been urging them to install meters. The Denver Water: Board <br />has never been opposed to the idea of installing meters. The problem <br />is how to get around the~tremendous additional cost originally. It is <br />estimated that:this cost for Denver would run somewhere between $21- <br />30 million. <br /> <br />The Governor directed the Department.of Natural Resources to work with <br />the city of Denver to see if some method could be devised of financing <br />which would include some state funds, some federal funds.and some funds <br />from the city of Denver, so that the metering could be amortized over <br />a long-term:period and the.burden of:payment .be relatively small upon <br />existing water users. <br /> <br />We havehad.conferences with the officials from the Denver.Water Board <br />and we have arrived at at least a tentative plan by which the state I <br />would put up the sum of $5 million and the rest would come from other <br />sources. We hope to get.substantia1 federal funds. It is probable <br />that Denver itself, ~hrough bonds or otherwise, would have to amortize <br />part of the cost. But the maximum contribution by the state, in any <br />event, would be $5 million. <br /> <br />Since the matter was not considered by the board, I. informed the Governor <br />and the city of Denver that we have already adopted a priority list and <br /> <br />-4- <br />