The former policy allowed an adjustment or credit for a leak. The policy allows for an adjustment equal to 50 percent of the highest month’s utility bill, but such an adjustment is permited only once during a 12-month period.

To receive the adjustment, customers must provide the city a receipt from a plumber for repairs or a receipt from a hardware store for parts as evidence that the increased water bill was due to a leak and that the leak had been repaired.

Finance Director Jimmy Overton requested that council extend the adjustment period to two months.

“Often a leak will begin in one month and not be discovered until the following month when the customer receives a higher than normal water bill,” Overton explained to council. “By the time the customer becomes aware of the problem and repairs the leak, he may already have an unusually high water bill for a second consecutive month.”

Overton went on to say that extending the adjustment period for a second month would be “fairer to the customer.”

He explained, “We are asking you to consider allowing leak adjustments for two consecutive months of abnormally high water and sewer bills. If the leak is not repaired by the third month, no further leak adjustments will be given because the customer has already had two months to repair any leak.”

Overton presented to council an example of a commercial water customer in the city that saw its water bill go from an average of $196 over a four-month period to an average of $1,100 in a two-month period because of a leak.

“That is unusually high,” Overton said. “Most of the ones we see are somewhere around $100 or less.”

In most cases, Overton said, leaks are caused from “worn out plumbing.”

Overton also told council that the city attempts to notify customers when a leak is suspected. Most times, meter readers realize the discrepancy and a note is either left for the customer or customers are contacted by phone.