When it comes to dealing with delinquent utility accounts, Airway Heights staff is going to use one of the tools it already has.
At an August study session, staff proposed Ordinance 878, which amends the city’s municipal codes “Water System” and “Sanitary Sewer System,” and creates a new section “Utility Services.” The ordinance will allow only property owners to set up utility accounts. Currently both property owners and tenants can create accounts.
During the session, accounting-records clerk Addam Janke said staff proposed the change as a way to save the finance and public works departments time during the account creation process.
At the session, Mayor Kevin Richey expressed concern over the proposed ordinance, saying it puts all of the responsibility of utility payments on property owners.
“The problem is, now if you have the water bill in the name of (just) the property owner, the tenant doesn’t really have much motivation to pay other than to use the owner’s water,” Richey said in the meeting. “That dips into the landowner’s profits because now they have this $200 water bill they have to pay.”
Since then, council has held two readings on the ordinance. During a Nov. 7 meeting, City Manager Albert Tripp said he and Richey discussed enforcing the city’s municipal code, which allows the city to shut off water services on a delinquent account, instead of using the ordinance. Council agreed to testing out the method in the city’s municipal code.
“We’ve been trying to work with these issues as they arise, but we’ve never utilized this tool on a routine basis,” Tripp said.
As per the city’s municipal code, when someone sets up a water services account, they will pay a $200 deposit. Currently all charges for water and sewer are due 25 days after the mailing of the bill. If the account is not paid after the 25th day, the city assesses a fee and will give notice to the account holders and property owner.
When the fees exceed $200, the water shall be turned off. The account holder will receive a notice five days before the city shuts off the water.
“If we sent out the bill at the end of October, it’s due Nov. 25,” Janke said. “Nov. 26, the payment is late and they would have until the second week of December — a month and a half — before their water is shut off.”
Customers can contest a water/sewer bill through a utility dispute, which will be reviewed by staff and the Utility Dispute Board.
Tripp noted that account holders under special circumstances can speak with the city. Airway Heights also has two programs to help customers pay their utility bill, one being Budget Billing, which allows the owner to make equal monthly payments over a 12-month period to ease the burden of months where water usage is high.
The other is the Reduced Rates Program, a special utility class where users pay a reduced base fee of $66.16. To qualify for reduced rates, customers must be on one of the following programs: food stamps, Medicaid, Spokane County property tax exemption, low income energy assistance, aid to families with dependent children and state public assistance.
As for Ordinance 878, Tripp said since the city has published that council will have multiple readings of the ordinance, there will be a third reading of the document. Council will then table the ordinance at its final reading.
“If the option doesn’t work, council can go back and adopt the ordinance,” Tripp added.
Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].
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