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Utility board denies $260.88 sewer bill adjustment for Bentgrass Drive, citing precedent concerns
Summary
The Utility Service Board voted to deny a $260.88 sanitary sewer adjustment request from 6937 Bentgrass Drive after staff said adjustments are limited to one month before or after the summer sprinkling billing window and a board member said granting it would set an undesirable precedent.
At its August 2025 meeting, the Utility Service Board for the City of Lawrence voted to deny a $260.88 sanitary sewer adjustment request for 6937 Bentgrass Drive.
Board discussion focused on the town’s long-standing summer sprinkling policy and the risk of creating a precedent. One board member said, “I've never seen it done, and I think it'll set a precedence for others to follow suit. So I myself, I'm gonna vote against it. I don't I just believe it's gonna be an avalanche of more people doing the same thing.”
Kathy Retmyer, the utility business office manager, told the board that the summer sprinkling rate applies during the billing cycles “of July, August, September, and October.” She said past superintendents allowed bill adjustments when customers provided evidence that they began irrigation early and the use was not due to a leak. Retmyer said the office investigates requests by analyzing account consumption to confirm whether irrigation — not a continuous leak — caused the increase and that the office generally authorizes adjustments only “1 month prior or 1 month after.” She also told the board that the ordinance regarding adjusted dates has been in place since “02/2010.”
The request had been tabled at an earlier meeting so staff could review the account. After taking the item off the table, a board member moved to deny the adjustment; another member seconded and the board carried the motion. The transcript records the motion as carried; there was no written adjustment approved.
The board discussion included caution about public expectation: members said they wanted customers informed about the established timeframe to avoid repeated requests. Staff said the business office will continue to inform customers of the guideline and will review requests that provide evidence of early, non-leak irrigation.
The denial was a formal action recorded in the meeting minutes; staff did not propose changing the ordinance or the business-office guideline at this meeting.
