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Three Forks council grants sewer-billing adjustment after resident cites leak, applies prior remediation practice
Summary
The council unanimously approved an adjustment to resident Christian Potts' sewer billing calculation after staff and council applied a previously used compromise method to spread treatment costs, resulting in a roughly $119/month figure for the period through June.
The Three Forks City Council unanimously approved a billing adjustment on Oct. 8 for resident Christian Potts after she petitioned the council to use a prior annual average for sewer billing following an undetected leak.
Potts told the council her household now has two people, but last year's water use reflected six people and a later, undetected toilet leak inflated usage. "There is now only two people in the house but the rate is way higher," Potts said. City Treasurer Kelly Smith explained that water is billed on actual usage while sewer charges are based on a winter water average used as a proxy for sewer discharge; she presented compromise calculations used in similar prior requests and proposed an averaged remedy. After accounting for two months Potts already paid at the higher rate, staff's method produced an adjusted figure of about $119 per month for the affected billing period.
Councilman George Chancellor moved to apply the same remedial approach the council has used in prior similar petitions; the motion passed unanimously. Council members emphasized the need for consistent treatment of petitions and noted the city had treated the excess water. Staff explained billing mechanics on the record: the city's water base rate is $34.50 and the sewer base rate is $54.25; additional water usage is charged at $1.55 per 100 cubic feet, and staff stated treatment charges are calculated per 100 cubic feet above the base.
The council directed staff to apply the approved adjustment through June and noted the approach follows prior council practice when leaks caused anomalous usage.
Authorities and ordinance references used by staff included Ordinance #9-4-1 (billing methodology) as it relates to sewer averaging; specific prior petition practices were cited during discussion.
