(a) When it is discovered by a city employee that an unusually large amount of water has passed through a customer’s water meter, the customer shall be notified either in person, by telephone or by letter. If the excessive usage is the result of a leak or faulty commode, the water bill will be adjusted for the month such leak or faulty commode was discovered and/or reported and the following month. Water wasted after that will be the sole responsibility of the customer. No more than two (2) bills will be adjusted in any year. For example: If a leak or faulty commode is discovered and/or reported during a billing for the month of June, that bill for June and the bill for July may be adjusted. No further adjustments may be made on that account until August of the following year. No adjustments will be made to accounts where the dollar value of the increase is twenty percent (20%) or less of the average monthly amount of the account. The method of adjustment will be as follows: The customer will be required to pay the equivalent of his/her average bill plus one-half (1/2) of the difference between the excessive bill and his/her average bill. Customers served by the city sewerage system will only be required to pay a sewer service charge on the average amount of the adjusted bill if the high bill is the result of a leak where water is not discharged to the city sewer system. In such cases a statement from a plumber will be required or the sewer service charge will be adjusted in the same manner as the water charge. Under no circumstances will a customer be required to pay a water and/or sewer charge more than double their average water and/or sewer bill when adjusted in accordance with the procedures listed above.
(b) If a water customer has an excessive bill and thinks it is caused by a faulty meter, he may, by making a deposit with the city, request that the meter be removed and checked. Said deposit to be set by the city council. If the meter is found to be in error, the deposit will be refunded and the bill adjusted based on the percentage of error in the meter. If the meter is not in error and not defective, the city will keep the deposit to cover expenses incurred in the investigation.
(Code 1982, § 5-1024; Ord. of 2-5-91, Art. II, § 4; Ord. of 2-21-95, § 1)