(A) Upon application of any water customer, the City Council may adjust a water bill for the limited reason of an abnormally high water usage caused by a verifiable water leak. To avail himself or herself of this provision, the customer must contact the Finance Officer within 30 days of the date of the abnormally high bill and request, in writing, an adjustment for the reason stated. The City Council may consider adjustment of the bill if it finds the following:
(1) The leak can be verified by the Maintenance Supervisor or other authorized person;
(2) The leak was not caused by the customer’s negligence;
(3) The customer did not previously know about the leak and had no reason to suspect the same;
(4) The customer previously kept the utility service in proper repair, and upon discovery or suspicion of the leak did everything in his or her power, in a timely manner, to either fix the same or prevent further water loss; and
(5) The abnormally high bill is at least double any of the prior 12 consecutive monthly bills.
(B) If the city is satisfied with the above findings, the City Council may, but is not required to, adjust the bill in the following manner:
(1) The customer shall pay a “normal” bill based upon the highest monthly usage for the past 12 months;
(2) In addition thereto, the customer shall pay the city’s cost plus $0.20 per 1,000 gallons or fraction thereof for the usage above and beyond the highest monthly usage used in division (B)(1) above.
(C) The sewer portion of the bill shall be based on the “normal” bill only, described in division (B)(1) above.
(Prior Code, § 8.0205)