Question:
What does the city of Ripon’s new utility leak adjustment policy mean for renters and property owners?
Answer:
The Ripon Common Council Monday unanimously approved a utility leak adjustment policy in response to inconsistent adjustment practices when residents experience high utility bills from a failed plumbing fixture or leak.
Ripon Utility Manager Jeremy Jess said the city did not previously have a consistent policy in place to handle leak disputes with residents.
The policy was drafted to create a consistent procedure when a customer receives a high water bill due to excessive consumption of water due to an unexpected plumbing failure, he noted.
Property owners are responsible for installation, maintenance and repair of water piping from the curb stop to the main building and wastewater piping from the connection to the service lateral to the main building and all plumbing inside the building.
The policy enables customers to apply for a one-time adjustment due to a plumbing failure that falls under the owner’s responsibility, while outlining a consistent procedure for the city in those situations, Jess added.
“It’ll make their bill more manageable, but also emphasize the importance of maintaining and repairing the plumbing that they are responsible for, which further minimizes the risk of another leak,” he said.
In order to receive a leak adjustment, customers must submit an application, according to a copy of the policy. The adjustments will cover a maximum of three consecutive months, and only one adjustment will be allowed per service address.
Any leak adjustment will show up as a credit on the bill following approval by the city, and the cause of the leak must be repaired before an adjustment can be approved.
If customers have trouble paying the adjusted bill, a payment plan can be set up with the city.
Leak adjustments will not be granted if the high water use was from seasonal activities such as gardening, if a leak continues for four or more months, if high water usage was due to negligent water use within the customer’s control or if the customer is unwilling to allow utility staff to inspect.
For rental properties, specifically, if the tenant is required to pay utilities and a leak occurs, the tenant would be responsible for the “normal consumption portion of the bill” — calculated using the average water consumption of the last four billing periods, according to the policy.
Meanwhile, the property owner or management company would be responsible for paying the “wasted water consumption billed at the lowest possible rate as determined by the utility,” the leak adjustment policy noted.
In addition, the tenant and the property owner both must sign the leak adjustment application as a failure to have both signatures will “result in a denial of the application,” the policy says.
Ald. John Splitt inquired about what recourse property owners would have if a leak was caused by the renter.
City Attorney Lud Wurtz replied that requiring both parties to sign the adjustment application requires them to acknowledge the tenant is responsible for the average amount of water use.
“Whether you put the responsibility on the tenant is on you and the tenant,” he said, noting the policy is designed to keep the city out of the middle of those disputes. “It’s an argument between the two of you, either in a court of law or by contract resolution.”
Ald. Jolene Schatzinger praised the plan for being a “creative solution” to a common problem for many residents.
“I was a renter, and this happened to me where we had a leak outdoors; I didn’t realize it because we do not bill monthly,” she said. “The bill I received was quite substantial, and, thankfully, we were able to pay it. But if we were on a fixed income, this would have been really a concern.”
Jess noted the city does not have the technology to monitor everyone’s water use that could provide live leak detection.
Sonntag said the city is prioritizing leveling-up all of its water meters to read cellularly or via radio. The next step would be upgrading to provide live leak detection, but that is “incredibly costly.”
“One day our goal … is to implement technology that tries to catch this ahead of time,” the city administrator said. “The other thing is to move to monthly billing. Quarterly billing is where this becomes an issue.”
He added that the city does proactively look through its water bills for abnormal usage and notify residents about potential leaks.
What this means for you:
The city now has a policy in place to address high utility bills that result from leaks, giving individuals the opportunity to potentially receive a credit on their water bill.
For more information, contact Utility Clerk Karen Engel via email at kengel@cityofripon.com or call 920-748-4926.
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