10-12-11 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 12, 2011 reading. That policy was to back bill one year of water usage based on the difference between the quarterly readings of the new meter and old meter. The City had four cases of significant discrepancy, and the Superintendent reviewed the outcomes of each of these cases. The Superintendent informed the Council that there was a significant amount of staff time required to monitor these accounts and resolve the discrepancies. Based on the experience with these four accounts as well as reviewing past meter discrepancies, staff feels that 50,000 gallons is a fair breakpoint on which to base an under - registering remote policy. That policy would entail that any account whose meter and remote differed by less than 50,000 gallons would be billed for the entire amount of the difference, and any account whose meter differed by more than 50,000 gallons would be billed for 50,000 gallons of under - registered water and would also be reviewed for a year to determine if additional water and sewer charges above the 50,000 gallons were necessary. The Superintendent then reviewed scenarios applying this policy as were outlined in his October 5'1' report. He also pointed out to the Council that water meters do not speed up, but can slow down as parts wear. Therefore, inaccuracies between the remote reading and the actual water meter reading will be the under - registering of actual water usage in favor of the homeowner. The Superintendent recommended that residents be given one year to pay off the under - registered portion of their bill with no penalty. IIe noted that for accounts being reviewed on a one -year basis, there is a chance that the resident will move within the year. If that occurs, the City will take information from the new meter and prorate it based on the average quarterly percentage usage. A final bill with the under - registered water and sewer adjustment will be generated based on the difference between the prorated reading and the old meter reading. The Superintendent indicated that it is likely there will be situations not covered in the policy. He suggested that unique circumstances be dealt with as they arise. Blesener asked how many residential accounts the City had as well as staff's estimate of the number of under - registering remotes. The Superintendent estimated 2,000 accounts, and indicated that it is difficult to the number of under - registering remotes. The City Administrator pointed out that staff currently runs exception reports to determine if there are accounts that appear to have decreased usage which might indicate an under - registering remote. However, if a meter has slowed down gradually, it won't be caught by this report. Keis asked if there was any estimate of the amount of dollars that will be collected in applying this policy. The city Administrator reported that 6