Riverwoods adopts policy to adjust one-time residential water bills caused by leaks

The Village of Riverwoods Board of Trustees adopted a policy to allow a one-time adjustment to residential water bills when unusually high usage is caused by a confirmed leak, Finance Director Vasquez told the board.

Under the policy the account holder must provide a copy of an invoice from a licensed plumber or contractor showing the leak was repaired, and must enroll in the ION water usage program to receive usage alerts. The adjustment will compare the high-bill usage to the account holder’s historical usage and bill the excess water at the village’s wholesale cost; the account holder remains responsible for average usage billed at the village rate.

Director Vasquez said staff’s draft included these elements to limit repeat adjustments and encourage rapid detection. “The account holder would provide a copy of an invoice from a licensed plumber or contractor showing that the issue causing the leak has been repaired,” Vasquez said. He added the village would require ION enrollment so future spikes could be detected quickly.

Trustees discussed the policy’s limit on repeat adjustments. Trustee Jamerson asked whether the policy’s original language — “only once in the history of an account” — was unduly punitive for long-term residents and suggested a fixed period (for example, five to 10 years) or an appeal route. Trustee Jamerson: “If somebody has a leak today and then they're here for another 15 years and they have another leak, I think it would be penalizing them to say, well, you've had your chance and that's it.”

Director Vasquez said staff proposed the strict limit because no prior policy existed but that the board could direct a different interval. The board settled on adopting the policy with staff direction that repeat requests would be brought to the board for review; Vasquez said staff would present cases of repeat requests for board consideration.

The board also approved that an account must request an adjustment within one month of the date of the bill in question, that only residential accounts qualify, and that staff may arrange payment plans if the adjusted balance remains substantial. Trustees Eastman, Jamerson, Smith and Trevino voted aye and the motion passed.

Practical example provided by staff showed a customer’s original bill of roughly $3,500 would have been reduced to about $2,500 under the proposed calculation; the board did not publish additional examples beyond what was in the staff memo.

Implementation tasks: Finance staff will publish the policy and an application process, require plumber invoices and ION enrollment, and present any repeat requests to the board for discretionary review.