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Council adopts ordinance to standardize water billing for multi-unit residences
Summary
Benton City Council approved Ordinance 1087 on April 7 to change how multi-unit properties are billed for water so each unit is charged the single-family residential base rate (including a 500-cubic-foot allowance); staff said the change fixes inconsistent billing tied to oversized meters.
BENTON CITY — On April 7 the Benton City Council approved Ordinance 1087, amending the municipal code to change water-billing rules for multi-unit properties such as apartment complexes, manufactured-home courts and RV parks.
The ordinance requires that each residential unit in a multi-unit premise be billed at the single-family residential rate — including the standard 500-cubic-foot base allowance — rather than basing charges on an oversized meter serving multiple units. Council discussed earlier billing inconsistencies in which complexes with 1.5- or 2-inch meters received abnormally high bills compared with single-family customers.
Councilmembers said the change brings the city's fee schedule into alignment with how staff has been attempting to bill residential units and addresses prior code violations where additional billing practices differed from the municipal code. The council also indicated staff will review rates this summer to ensure cost recovery; at the meeting a city representative stated an internal figure of $5.70 spent per 100 cubic feet delivered as part of that review.
No detailed vote tally was recorded in the transcript; the council called the question and the motion passed as reported in the meeting record.
