Highland Park reports meter data to 1 Water Partnership, seeks midyear credit after usage falls below estimates

City Administrator (name not specified) told the Highland Park City Council on Nov. 3 that the city has submitted a two‑year report and meter data to the 1 Water Partnership showing actual metered water and sewer use well below earlier estimates.

The presenter said the report includes graphs, pictures and meter results and that the city’s rate analyst has proposed a midyear adjustment. "At this point, in this fiscal year, we're asking for an adjustment," the presenter said, adding that the data will be used when next year's rates are set and that the partnership’s subcommittee has 30 days to review the submission.

City materials and remarks described a process: the city submits its best available data; the partnership’s subcommittee reviews that submission and may call the city in for follow up. The presenter said the meters are read and managed by the same third‑party metering company used across the partnership and that the meters’ data are arriving daily.

Council members and the presenter repeatedly framed the submission as implementing terms agreed in a prior settlement and related term sheet. The presenter said the meters were installed to ensure Highland Park is treated as an equitable, metered customer and to bring rates in line with usage.

Public Q&A during the session addressed whether citizens will receive credits if past bills were higher than meters indicate; the presenter said adjustments should generate credits. The presenter and council also said the city expects to pursue an adjustment described in the meeting as a "midyear adjustment" and to press for credits, but they did not provide final credit mechanics or an exact timetable during the presentation.

Clarifying note on stated amounts: during the presentation the speaker referenced a midyear adjustment and used dollar figures in two different places in the transcript (one reference to "$2,800,000" and a later reference that transcribed as "$228,000,000"). The city did not resolve those differing numbers on the record during the Nov. 3 presentation. The amount the council will formally request from the 1 Water Partnership, and the mechanism and timing for any credits to customers, were described as subject to the partnership’s review process and were not finalized at the meeting.

The presenter said the city’s position is to follow the settlement agreement and term sheet and to rely on meter readings rather than prior estimates. The council did not take final action to change rates during the meeting; the item was presented as an information session and the city said it will return with follow‑up once the partnership’s subcommittee has completed its review.