Minimum Billing

There are many costs associated with providing water and sewer service to your residence whether you choose to use them or not. It costs to provide water and sewer service even if the customer chooses not to use the service for any period of time whether 3 months, 1 week, a weekend, or even overnight. These costs include the capital expenditures for such items as the distribution system and the meter itself.

Water Department Expenses

Even if you do not use the system, the water department has the expense of a meter sitting in the ground. The water department also has the expense of reading your meter monthly, billing, postage for the bill, etc. It costs the water department the same to read a meter with no usage as it does to read a meter with a million gallons of usage. It costs the water department the same to produce and mail a bill whether the bill is for $26.14 or $10,000. The minimum bill covers these varied costs.

Capital Costs

The capital costs in particular are annualized costs that are billed in monthly units for the convenience of our customers. It would be theoretically possible to bill these costs 1 time per year. However, such billing procedures would be a hardship on our customers. Therefore, these costs are spread over monthly installments. As a customer you are receiving a benefit of water service being provided to your residence. The volume to which you use that service is an individual decision.

Extended Absence Disconnection

There is an option if you are going to be away from your residence for an extended period of time. You can call the water department and have your water service disconnected. Your meter will be read, a final bill calculated and your deposit, if you have a deposit on file, will be applied to your final bill. If the deposit exceeds the balance on your account, then a refund check will be mailed to you for the difference. If the balance exceeds your deposit then you will be billed for the difference. The positive side is that you would not have to pay the minimum bill while you are gone.

Negatives

On the negative side, you will have to re-establish service when you return by placing another deposit. You might return earlier than planned to a house without water. Any guests that you might allow to visit your home while you are away, would not have water. Lawn and garden needs, care of pets if you had any, etc. could not be performed without water.

There is an alternative to the minimum monthly bill. You must decide what option best fits your needs. Our Customer Service Representatives will be glad to serve you either way. If you have any questions please call our office at (479) 521-1258.