Committee backs amended customer service policy; leak‑adjustment change kept, appeal process unchanged

The Budget & Finance Committee recommended that the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopt Resolution 2025‑64, an amendment to the city's customer service policy, at its Oct. 16 meeting.

Why this matters: the policy change affects how the city handles billing adjustments for water/sewer customers who experience leaks; the committee's backing moves the amendment to the full board for final action.

Jessica Davie, billing and licensing director, told the committee the only proposed change remaining in the draft policy is to the leak adjustment section; after a law department review the committee reverted a previously proposed change to the appeals process and left that procedure unchanged. Davie summarized the retained change: the amended policy "will allow for a greater adjustment to sewer charges if the leak was in the irrigation line or the service line." She asked the committee to recommend the resolution to the full board.

Committee members asked for related customer counts. Davie and finance staff reported that for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, the city had 18,461 water customers and 27,762 sewer customers, reflecting a roughly 9,000‑customer difference because multiple satellite water utilities serve areas that still use the city's sewer service.

A motion to forward Resolution 2025‑64 to the full board with recommendation carried on a roll‑call vote with four yes votes: Alderman Peterson (yes), Alderman Baggett (yes), Alderman Potts (yes) and the chair (yes). The motion's mover and seconder were not specified in the record transmitted in the meeting transcript.

Ending: With the committee's recommendation, the amended customer service policy (Resolution 2025‑64) will be considered by the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The law department's review led staff to preserve the existing appeal process while approving the targeted leak‑adjustment change.