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Council votes not to pursue broad back‑billing after water‑meter misconfiguration; one member dissents
Summary
Utilities staff reported that about 66 meters were installed with the wrong resolution (1,000 gallons vs. 1 gallon). After discussing options, the council voted to apply corrective billing prospectively and not to pursue back-billing beyond the one-year legal window; one council member expressed disappointment at not seeking additional revenue.
Utilities director Allison Berg briefed the council on a recent metering error: approximately 66 meters installed between 2022 and 2026 were configured with 1,000‑gallon resolution rather than the required 1‑gallon resolution, which caused under-reporting of usage.
Berg said the village’s legal authority allows back-billing for up to one year; staff presented three alternatives at a prior workshop: (1) back-bill affected customers using applicable tiered rates; (2) back-bill using the lowest tier; or (3) forego back-billing and correct bills prospectively. The majority consensus at the workshop and the option presented tonight was option 3: correct billing prospectively and not attempt broader retroactive collection. Berg said staff had notified affected residents when the issue was discovered and had not attempted collection beyond reestablishing correct current billing rates.
One council member expressed disappointment that staff would not try to collect additional prior revenue, noting the village faces significant potential budget impacts in the coming fiscal period and that some affected accounts could yield several thousand dollars. The council voted to approve staff’s recommended resolution; the dissent was recorded by a council member who said they remained disappointed the village would not pursue additional recoveries.
Staff said they began billing correctly as soon as the problem was discovered and that any legal recovery would be limited to the one-year statutory window; they also committed to communicating with affected customers and indicated staff will continue to monitor the billing process and provide information to council as needed.
