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Water & Sewer committee approves new disconnect/reconnect fees, cites repeat cutoffs
Summary
The committee approved charging $25 to disconnect and $25 to reconnect for nonpayment, with higher after-hours and weekend charges; staff said the city waives the first disconnection and that repeat cutoffs make up a large share of cases.
At the Water & Sewer committee meeting, staff outlined a new fee structure for service disconnections due to nonpayment. Under the approach the committee approved, the city will charge $25 for a business-hours disconnect and $25 to reconnect; staff presented additional charges for after-hours (+$40) and weekend work (+$50), which would raise total costs for off-hour responses. Staff noted the code language reads differently in places and requested alignment with current practice.
When asked how the policy would be applied, staff said the first disconnection of the year is waived and the city does not disconnect accounts with balances under $40. Staff also said they perform a callout the day before disconnection to give customers time to pay.
Staff (referred to in the transcript as Ricky) described the scale of repeat disconnections: "We are I think it 40 to 50% or 55% ... of those who have been cut off have been cut off twice or more. 19 of them, so 19 of the 176 have been cut off every single month," he said. He also reported the city's monthly shutoff rate is "over 1% of our customers," and that comparable utilities in the area have lower rates. Committee members asked about flexibility for hardship cases; staff said they make exceptions and try to work with customers.
A motion to adopt the fee alignment passed by voice vote.
