Missouri committee hears bill to require transparency when landlords pass water charges to tenants
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Summary
House Bill 2105 would let landlords use either ratio utility billing (RUBS) or submeters to bill tenants for water but require disclosures to tenants and monthly billing transparency; industry groups and a water company supported the bill at a House General Laws hearing.
Representative David Castile, sponsor of House Bill 2105, told the House Committee on General Laws that the bill does not create a new right to bill tenants for water but would add guardrails and tenant-facing disclosures for existing practices.
"There's just no guardrails on how that is to be done," Castile said when presenting the bill, which would permit either a ratio utility billing formula (RUBS) or submetering and require landlords to disclose billing methods in leases and itemize charges on monthly statements. He said the goal is transparency and flexibility for developers.
Industry witnesses told the committee they support the measure. Mandy Randall, association executive for the Saint Louis Apartment Association, said the association represents roughly 100,000 rental units and asked that landlords be allowed a choice between per-unit meters and a RUBS formula. Randall cited an example in which a public water district required individual meters and described the cost impact: "At a 200 unit property, that added almost $500,000 to the building cost," she said, adding that such expenses can be passed into rents.
Jana Millard, secretary of the Missouri Apartment Association, also voiced support. Matt Jesse, director of government affairs for Missouri American Water, said the company had worked with the sponsor and asked for clarifying language to prevent submetered tenants from being treated as the utility's regulated customers, which could create enforcement or shutoff complications. "We'd like to see some clarity to ensure that the PSC knows they're not customers of ours," Jesse said.
Arning C. (AC) Denoff, a resident who said he has tracked local disputes, described an example in Saint Charles County where a developer and a public water district arranged master meters for an apartment complex and then apportioned costs to residents; Denoff called that practice "illegal" and said residents paid substantial increases. He urged the committee to pass protections for tenants and seniors.
Committee members asked few technical questions during the presentation and the hearing concluded with no opposition testimony entered on the record. The chair closed public testimony and moved on to the next set of bills.
What's next: The committee took testimony but did not vote on HB 2105 during this hearing. Sponsors and industry representatives said they expect to work on clean-up language before the bill moves to a later committee stage.