Zimmerman proposes water bill fix

Speculating that complaints about high water bills may be caused by “catch-up readings” that lump several months of usage into “one very large reading,” City Council Member Don Zimmerman has proposed a resolution. As posted on the City Council Message Board, Zimmerman’s resolution directs the city manager to “compare the calendar 2014 year’s monthly usage to the 2015 year’s (thus far) monthly usage for residential and multifamily accounts; for accounts that are showing usage at over 200% the previous year’s usage for a given month, then any usage above the 200% will be billed at the 0-2,000 Gallons tier and no Water Revenue Stability Reserve Fund Surcharge will be included over the 200% usage level.” The proposal is sure to be a topic of discussion at Wednesday’s Public Utilities Committee meeting, as Zimmerman is vice chair of that committee.