As if discovering a water leak at your home weren’t bad enough, the increased bill for all the extra usage can leave homeowners in deep water.
To provide some relief and help affected residents keep their heads above water, council’s committee of the whole recommended endorsing the new accidental water leak adjustment policy during a meeting Oct. 17.
According to a report by Jackie Syme, manager of revenue services, some residents don’t become aware of leaks or accidental usage until receiving abnormally expensive water bills, after which they typically reach out to the town to ask for partial relief or more time to make payments. While these requests have been addressed in an ad hoc manner in the past, the policy seeks to introduce a standardized approach to providing financial relief to residents in future.
As a result, it recommends providing a one-time adjustment per property per ownership to residential customers whose consumption exceeds double the average amount for the same billing period the previous year. If that data's not available the town average is used.
To qualify, the property owner/occupant must ensure the leak is repaired, which town staff plan to verify electronically, based on at least two weeks of data from the water meter.
The policy recommends relieving residents of 50 per cent of the abnormal cost to a maximum of $1,500 for combined water and wastewater billing.
The policy contains some notable exceptions, including:
- Greater than average consumption that is due to seasonal usage such as watering of grass or sod, gardening, filling swimming pools, whirlpools or skating rinks, washing of vehicles or any other uses where the customer is aware, or should be aware, that they are using town supplied potable water
- The water and wastewater bill is more expensive than average as the result of a “catch-up” for estimated water consumption
- The property cannot be under major renovation or a newly constructed structure (occupancy permit must be granted)
- If the property location and owner have already received an accidental water leak credit previously
Noting that he’s lived in his house for more than 20 years, Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik suggested that owners of the same property should be eligible to reapply for relief after several years, and Mayor James Leduc suggested a five-year term would be reasonable.
Ian Goodfellow, director of finance and treasurer, confirmed staff would add that clause to the policy.
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano praised the proposal, recalling the financial hardship his mother-in-law experienced years ago in Toronto when an unknown leak in a toilet led to a $1,400 bill.
“When you look at the short-term devastation that this can put onto a family’s economic situation, especially nowadays, something like this is just common sense,” he said.
In response to a question from Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie, Goodfellow confirmed the finance department can monitor usage to detect anomalies, and according to the report, the water department also plans to pro-actively provide notice to residents of potential leaks, if the town’s system detects continuous water flow at a metered property.
Goodfellow also explained the policy only applies to residential properties because commercial sites have water usage patterns that can be difficult to predict. But those commercial customers can still ask for relief, and staff would bring those requests before council.
Committee endorsed the policy with the friendly amendment to allow residents to reapply after five years.
Recommendations from committee of the whole are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
