Madison County board hears detailed pitch for third-party "leak protection" program for high water bills

Dan Dansby, a consultant who presented a commercial leak-adjustment program, told the Madison County Board of Commissioners that his firm offers a third-party plan to cover unusually large residential water bills caused by leaks and to reduce staff workload associated with adjustments. "They get a thousand dollar water bill and their average is 50. We send $950 directly to your staff," Dansby said, describing the program's basic operation.

Dansby said the program typically covers two billing cycles for a single qualifying event and offers tiered limits (commonly $500, $1,000 or $2,500) at an estimated residential price range of roughly $1.00 to $2.35 per month. He described an optional separate warranty for repairs that the vendor can dispatch to local licensed plumbers; that repair program is billed and administered separately from the bill-adjustment coverage. Dansby said the vendor does not require a deductible and that partners in other states generally have not experienced an automatic rate increase tied to enrollment.

Commissioners and county staff pressed on implementation details. Commissioner questions focused on enrollment mechanics (opt-in vs. opt-out), meter-size limits (the vendor typically excludes meters larger than 2 inches), verification of repairs, and whether the program would reduce bad debt or shift costs. County staff said the vendor offered two ways to implement the coverage: fold the cost into base rates or add it as a separate line item that customers could opt out of. The vendor said most partner utilities use either a universal enrollment with an opt-out option or include the cost in base rates; participation rates from similar partners were reported in the high 90s percentage-wise.

Dansby also described the vendor's approach to repairs: the leak-adjustment (the bill credit) is settled to the utility; home-repair services are handled separately and can be provided by local licensed plumbers the vendor coordinates. He said repair coverage limits are higher for exterior line incidents (he cited a per-incident cap in the neighborhood of $10,000) and lower for interior repairs under slab (he cited figures such as $3,500 per entity for internal plumbing and drainage), though he said those figures can be customized by utility.

No formal commitment was made. Commissioners asked staff to obtain the vendor's standard contract and forward it to the county's counsel (Christine) for review. Stephanie (county staff) confirmed she would receive the standard agreement and legal review and bring the item back to the board; the chairman and others signaled the board would likely take up a formal decision at a future meeting, with November explicitly mentioned.

Why it matters: Local utilities and customers both told commissioners they face months when a small number of accounts generate large leak-related bills that create hardship, payment plans and administrative burden. The vendor presented a model intended to reduce staff time on adjustments, recapture revenue for the utility, and limit the financial shock for affected customers.