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Bonney Lake staff propose clearer leak‑adjustment policy; council cautioned about rate impacts
Summary
Committee members discussed revising Bonney Lake's water leak adjustment code and policy to allow limited credits for difficult‑to‑detect leaks, while staff cautioned that broader adjustments could lower captured revenue and push future rate increases.
Bonney Lake's Finance Committee debated changes to the city's water leak adjustment policy after staff presented a recent service case that fell outside current policy coverage.
Staff (speaker 3) said the existing code covers losses from the meter to the mainline and through structures, but the recent leak was at the end of a lot where there is no building; the cap that had been installed became loose and failed. "So we would really need to look and get some understanding from council as to at what point should the city look at leak adjustments?" staff asked.
Staff and council discussed possible approaches: a narrowly defined eligibility window that requires prompt action and documentation, a single dollar cap per event, or a percentage‑of‑bill approach. A staff presenter (speaker 6) cautioned against a broad policy that would erode billed revenue, noting that some months the city must purchase water (from Tacoma Water) during summer demand peaks and that broader leak credits could necessitate higher future rates. "The broader you make the policy, the more you need to build into the revenue model the estimates that we're going to give away on avoided water loss," the staff member said.
Examples and implementation mechanics discussed included treating one leak adjustment per multi‑year window, requiring proof of timely repair, and fixing a clear cap (for example, a percentage of the bill or a dollar limit such as reimbursing up to $2,500 or waiving 50% of a very large bill). Staff indicated a code change would be required to implement a structural policy change, and suggested they could prepare a draft code amendment and policy for council consideration in July, with potential retroactive application depending on parameters the council sets.
Next steps: staff will draft a clear, implementable policy (dollar or percentage cap, documentation and timing rules) and discuss how it should be modeled into rate studies for 2027–28 to avoid unintended revenue shortfalls. The committee did not adopt a new policy at the meeting.
Quotes used in this article are attributed to speakers who spoke in the committee meeting recording and are presented here by the role labels used in the meeting transcript.
