2018-R-25 - POLICY - Water Bill Excessive Use Policy RESOLUTION#2018-R-25
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
EDGEWATER, FLORIDA; APPROVING THE WATER BILL
EXCESSIVE USE CREDIT POLICY REPEALING
RESOLUTIONS IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING FOR
SEVERABILITY AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Council adopted a policy to effectively and efficiently avoid the time
and expense of an administrative hearing regarding a disputed abnormally high utility bill; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds it advantageous from a staff time and customer goodwill
standpoint to operate a functioning utility bill adjustment program;and
WHEREAS, the Water Bill Excessive Use adjustment program is created to efficiently address
high water bills from leaks on the customer side of the meter and abnormal unexplained usage; and
WHEREAS, the program will permit an adjustment as an Excessive Usage Credit (EUC) to be
considered by the City at the customer's request for customers meeting certain criteria.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Edgewater,
Florida as follows:
Section 1. The City Council has determined that the policy titled "Water Bill Excessive
Use Credit Policy' (attached hereto and incorporated herein) is hereby established and approved for
inclusion into the Administrative Policy Manual.
Section 2. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Resolution,
or application hereof, is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any Court, such portion or
application shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision, and such holding shall not
affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications hereof.
2018-R-25
Section 3. All resolutions or parts of resolutions in conflict herewith be and the same are
hereby repealed.
Section 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
Section 5. After a motion to approve by CEX7�3y�r�w,, l—)�j .xa--
with second by C4�4.1/,cX?mczn Vow f , the vote on this resolution was
as follows:
AYE NAY
Mayor Mike Thomas �r
Councilwoman Christine Power
Councilwoman Amy Vogt
Councilwoman Megan O'Keefe
Councilman Gary Conroy
PASSED,APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 3rd day of December,2018.
ATTEST: CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY
E GEL )� IDRA
V01 �
Robin Matusick omas
City Clerk/Paralegal Mayor
For the use and reliance only by the City ofEdgewateq Approved by the City Council ofthe City ofEdgewater at a
Florida. Approved as to form and legality by: meeting held on this 3'a day of December,2018 under Item
Aaron R.Wolfe,Esquire,City Attorney
Doran,Sims,Wolfe&Ciocchetti
2018-R-25
2
EDGEWATER
City of Edgewater
Section: City Council
ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Subject:Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
Purpose:
To avoid the time and expense of an administrative hearing regarding a disputed abnormally high utility bill, the City
Council finds it advantageous from a staff time and customer goodwill standpoint to operate a functioning utility bill
adjustment program for leaks on the customer side of the meter and abnormal unexplained usage. The program that
permits an adjustment as an Excessive Usage Credit (EUC) will be considered by the City at the Customer's request
for Customers meeting certain criteria.
Responsibility:
It is a property owner's responsibility to ensure water conservation, that pipes, plumbing, and water using fixtures on
their side of the meter box are propedy maintained. While there are times when it is appropriate to adjust a
customers bill due to circumstances on their private plumbing, it is inappropriate for an adjustment of this nature to
place an unfair financial burden on other water customers. It is unfair to those customers who experience no leaks or
plumbing problems to pay for those problems incurred by another's private plumbing. It is equally inappropriate, and
a violation of the Utility's bond covenants, for the Utility to provide water service at no charge. This policy is written
to allow adjustments under appropriate circumstances. However, this policy is not intended to allow one
individual's private issues to have an unfair rate impact on other customers or to violate the citys bond covenants or
the City of Edgewater's Code of Ordinances.
Guideline:
The City of Edgewater may provide an adjustment for high bills as a result of excessive water use for the following
scenarios:
• Leak at Property — Covers leaks within (interior plumbing or appliances) and outside (service line on the
customers side of the meter)of the structure.
• Hiah Use — Cause Known — Covers excessive water use for which the cause is known. As an example, a
family member or gardener accidently left outside hose running for an extended period of time. Other
examples are a fiminglcycling issue on equipment,such as water softener.
• High Use—Cause Unknown— Covers excessive water use for which the cause is unknown. As an example,
high use is experienced for a single billing period and then usage pattern returns to normal average monthly
consumption as compared to previous average per day in previous billing cycles. Field investigation has
confirmed accurate meter reading and is unable to determine the cause or such cause has repaired itself and
has created a single incident of higher than expected water use. An example may be a toilet flapper had a
single incident that remained open for a period of time.
• Pool Fill (wastewater adjustment only) -. Adjustments to wastewater portion may be considered for initial
comstruclioNhll and at times documented repairs are provided. Ni intermittent adding water to a pool, shall
not qualify, for an adjustment. No adjustments shall be made for the following: pools with a design depth of
less than three feet; tat tubs; spas; aquarium or ponds less than 5,000 gals; outdoor fun equipment, or
waterbeds.
Date: 1213/2018 Page 1 of 4
100.07 Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
IIIGIKUCH f7
City of Edgewater
Section: City Council
ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Subject:Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
However,no adjustments will be granted where any of the following situations exist:
• Usage above the customers average monthly consumption is due to seasonal usage such as watering of sod,
gardening, or whirlpools, washing vehicles, holidays which may host additional people further increasing
usage,etc.
• Leak was caused by a third party from whom the customer is able to recover their costs. Examples include,
but are not limited to,rental,theft,vandalism,a construction damage,
• When leak continues for three (3) or more months, there will be no adjustment for the third or subsequent
months.
• The meter at said property has been accessed,tampered with, a turned on/off by anyone other than a City of
Edgewater employee and that action results in loss of water.
• Excessive use due to intentional negligence by customer/occupant
• A leak adjustment was issued within the past two(2)years for the same premise.
A leak adjustment request will be denied if the request contains any inaccurate or fraudulent information.
Lags
1) Once a customer notifies the City of Edgewater about a possible high bill that may be related to a leak, the City
policy is to provide consideration for leak adjustments for water and wastewater or water only usage charges caused
by a leak that occurred on the customers side of the meter. The consumption will need to exceed the average monthly
usage for the billing cycle by twice the monthly average usage over the previous twelve (12)month period dependent
upon the type of leak.This average will not include any bills that have been estimated or that have usage and/or non-
occupancy of premise,
2) If a leak occurs on a readily available water pipe(toilet leak, leaking faucet,leaking hose bib, etc.)the water use for
customers on residential rates will have the water consumption charges returned to the lowest residential tier for the
amount in excess of the average monthly consumption for the billing cycle. Adjustments for wastewater charges will
be equally applied based on final adjusted average of water consumption charge.
3) If there is usage registered that is above the monthly average greater than twice the average on the meter and a
plumber(or utilities operations staff) can find no plumbing related problem and the usage has returned to the monthly
average consumption, the customer may request a financial adjustment from the City of Edgewater Finance
Department, Utility Customer Services.
4) The City stare will have the authority,as identified below,to adjust leaks based on consumption usage which exceeds
twice the normal monthly consumption average based on a monthly average usage for both water and wastewater for
the previous twelve(12)months.
Date: 12/32018 Page 2 of 4
100.07 Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
Ll�GI 11 11111
City of Edgewater
Section: City Council
ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Subject:Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
5) Once a City of Edgewater Finance Department employee or representative notifies a customer of a water leak and
it is rat repaired in forty eight hours, it may result in the disconnection of service until such lime as the leak is repaired.
(The time may vary dependent upon water conservation mandates.)
6) Financial adjustments associated to billed usage/consumption will be allowed one (1) per year per customers
Account/Premise.
Procedures:
• Water leak adjustments must be requested by contacting the City of Edgewater Finance Department, Utility
Customer Services and must be accompanied by a completed Utility Adjustment Request Form along with any
plumbers receipt or other proof of the repair when applicable.
• After all documentation has been received by the Finance Department, Utility Customer Services, a determination is
made regarding what type of leak this it not and d the leak is adjustable or not and notification is made to the
requesting account holder staling approval or disapproval of the requested adjustment.
• The determination may require contact with repaircempany/plumber to correct any confirmed leaks.
• A leak adjustment may occur only after all known leaks have been repaired or any exceptional unexplained
consumption has been verified by a plumber andlor utilities field staff,andlor usage has returned to its previous normal
average and may require a vert ied meter read by city utilities personnel.
• While an adjustment request is being processed, the customer is responsible to pay at least an amount equal to
their prior month's bill in order to remain in good standing on all current billings. Upon determination of adjustment
request all remaining balances will be applied to the account and due on the nerd bill cycle. If this does not occur, the
customer is subject to all current and applicable fees, collection and termination of services, processes, and
procedures.
• Average monthly usage will be calculated based on average monthly consumption using the previous twelve (12)
consecutive bills, This average will not include any bills that have been estimated or that have zero usage andlor non-
occupancy of premise.
• Average monthly usage for customers that have little or no usage history will be estimated at the current City-wide
average based on the use type of the type of occupancy associated with the account.
• Leak adjustments will only cover a two month consecutive period.
Date: 1213/2018 Page 3 of 4
100.07 Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
EDGEWATER
City of Edgewater
Section: City Council
ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Subject:Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy
Aaoroyina Authority for Unknown Cause:
• Utilities Customer Service employees shall have authority to approve a leak adjustment of up to$100.
• Utilities Customer Service Supervisors shall have authority to approve a leak adjustment of up to$500.
• Fin Director shall have authority to approve a leak adjustment of up to$1,000.
• City Manager shall have authority to approve a leak adjustment of up to$1,500.
• All adjustment requests over$1,500 will be considered by the City Council.
Aoorovina Authority for all other utility bill adiustments,
• Leak adjustment approvals for all identified leaks will mirror the approval authority and thresholds of the
purchasing policy
No member of City staff shall process leak adjustments for themselves, family members, trends, co-workers, or for
rental units they own or manage. All adjustments for these categories must be processed by the next higher level of
supervisor. The Finance Director shall consider approval of adjustments for supervisors.
A monthly report of all adjustments shall be submitted to and reviewed by the Finance Director.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION,REQUIREMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES
It shall be the responsibil' o e F' Director to monitor and update this policy.
Ap ro Dategbei,� c3r-�Dlg
s,Mayor
Date: 12/3/2018 Page 4 of 4
100.07 Water Bill Excessive Use Credit Policy