Whenever the meter for any utility product or service of the city's is read, it shall be the duty of the Service Department to compare the reading so obtained with the next previous reading and to compute the proper charge to be billed to the consumer. Whenever a meter reading is not available and whenever any meter has for any reason ceased to register, or fails to register accurately within 3%, the Service Department shall estimate the amount of product used or service rendered, and such estimate shall be the basis for computing the bill for such period and the basis on which either a bill adjustment action or a refund action shall be determined. Any such bill adjustment action or refund for meter reading errors shall be limited to the preceding 12-month period. If the meter readings are not indicative of the consumer's actual product or service usage due to unauthorized taking of service, the Director of Service shall estimate both the amount of product used or service rendered and the time period during which the unauthorized taking occurred and compute an appropriate bill adjustment for such entire period.
(Ord. 8588, passed 11-12-02; Am. Ord. 2012-107, passed 12-11-12; Am. Ord. 2015-001, passed 1-27-15)