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Leak Adjustment Policy
ARTICLE VIII-ADJUSTMENTS
A. A customer with a high water bill due to a leak or busted pipe may request that the Water Department make an adjustment to the account in question.
B. The customer shall make application for adjustment. The customer shall provide all requested information to the best of his or her knowledge.
C. To be eligible for an adjustment:
D. The bill will be adjusted to the average bill for the proceeding twelve month period. For example, a customer whose average bill is $30 a month with a leak causing their bill to increase to $100 would see $70 of the leaked amount adjusted off of the bill. Therefore, the water bill after the adjustment would be $100 - $70 = $30.00.
E. If it is determined that the leak occurred during a period which overlaps two consecutive billing periods, both bills may be adjusted provided both bills qualify for adjustment. No more than two bills may be adjusted for each request.
F. The office supervisor shall review the application to determine the eligibility of the request.
G. If the office supervisor denies a customer a leak adjustment, the customer may request a hearing with the County Manager to appeal the decision. The County Manager will determine if the Office Supervisor followed policy when making a decision. If the County Manager determines that the Office Supervisor did not follow policy, it may reverse the decision. At the request of the customer, any request made by the customer outside of policy may be forwarded to the Water Committee for consideration. The Water Committee will render a decision on the request and forward the results of the decision to the full Board of Commissioners for review. Any member of the Board of County Commissioners may request the Water Committee to reconsider the issue or bring the issue before the Board of Commissioners.
Catastrophic Water Leak Adjustment
If during the twelve (12)-month period for which the customer is no longer eligible for a 100% leak adjustment experiences another leak that is considered catastrophic, the customer may be eligible for additional relief.
A. A customer with a high water bill due to a leak or busted pipe may request that the Water Department make an adjustment to the account in question.
B. The customer shall make application for adjustment. The customer shall provide all requested information to the best of his or her knowledge.
C. To be eligible for an adjustment:
- The customer must make application for adjustment no later than the end of the month immediately following the due date of the bill reflecting the leak or busted pipe (no swimming pool or irrigation adjustments are given). This provision is effective for any leak adjustment applications submitted on or after July 1, 2018.
- The customer has not been granted a leak adjustment for a different leak on the same account within the last twelve (12)months.
- The water bill to be adjusted is at least double the average bill for the proceeding twelve (12) month period. For leak adjustments where the consumer has less than twelve (12) months usage, the estimated normal usage will be figured using the current American Water Works Association number of gallons of water used per day per person of 88 gallons multiplied by the number of people in the household (number to be reviewed annually).
- All needed repairs or actions to prevent any further loss of water have been made.
D. The bill will be adjusted to the average bill for the proceeding twelve month period. For example, a customer whose average bill is $30 a month with a leak causing their bill to increase to $100 would see $70 of the leaked amount adjusted off of the bill. Therefore, the water bill after the adjustment would be $100 - $70 = $30.00.
E. If it is determined that the leak occurred during a period which overlaps two consecutive billing periods, both bills may be adjusted provided both bills qualify for adjustment. No more than two bills may be adjusted for each request.
F. The office supervisor shall review the application to determine the eligibility of the request.
G. If the office supervisor denies a customer a leak adjustment, the customer may request a hearing with the County Manager to appeal the decision. The County Manager will determine if the Office Supervisor followed policy when making a decision. If the County Manager determines that the Office Supervisor did not follow policy, it may reverse the decision. At the request of the customer, any request made by the customer outside of policy may be forwarded to the Water Committee for consideration. The Water Committee will render a decision on the request and forward the results of the decision to the full Board of Commissioners for review. Any member of the Board of County Commissioners may request the Water Committee to reconsider the issue or bring the issue before the Board of Commissioners.
Catastrophic Water Leak Adjustment
If during the twelve (12)-month period for which the customer is no longer eligible for a 100% leak adjustment experiences another leak that is considered catastrophic, the customer may be eligible for additional relief.
- A catastrophic leak is defined as water loss due to a busted line or leak resulting in a bill which is at least five (5) times the average bill for the preceding twelve (12) months (excluding the previous leak usage).
- The customer must make application for adjustment no later than the end of the month immediately following the due date of the bill reflecting the leak or busted pipe.
- All needed repairs or actions to prevent any further loss of water must have been made.
- The bill will be adjusted to five (5) times the average bill for the preceding twelve (12)-month period (excluding the previous leak usage).
- If it is determined that the leak occurred during a period which overlaps two (2) consecutive billing periods, both bills may be adjusted provided both bills qualify for adjustment. No more than two (2) bills may be adjusted for each catastrophic leak request.
- The customer is eligible for one (1) catastrophic leak adjustment during the twelve (12)-month period after the initial adjustment.
- The customer may request a payment plan not to exceed five (5) months.
- This provision is effective for any catastrophic leak adjustment applications submitted on or after July 1, 2020.