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Decorah council debates major changes to water and sewer billing, metering and service ownership
Summary
Staff proposed switching to monthly billing, changing units from cubic feet to per 1,000 gallons, removing the embedded 'first 500' consumption from the base charge, adding a $1 monthly paper-bill fee, and exploring city ownership of service lines from main to curb stop; council asked for additional data and a rate-study tie‑in before committing to citywide ownership changes.
City utilities staff presented a package of proposed amendments to Title 13 of the Decorah Municipal Code governing water and sewers. The major proposals included:
- Move all customers to monthly billing (currently a staggered quarterly schedule) to accelerate leak detection and billing regularity. - Bill consumption in gallons (per 1,000 gallons) rather than cubic feet for clearer public understanding. - Remove the 'first 500 cubic feet' consumption credit embedded in the water base charge so the base better reflects fixed delivery costs and consumption is billed starting with the first gallon; staff…
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