City residents working on their own plumbing may soon face an additional charge on their water bills.
The city council is considering enacting a surcharge for service calls at night or on the weekend.
The surcharge will be considered at the city’s next water and sewer trust authority meeting on Nov. 16.
The trust authority discussed the proposed surcharge at the Oct. 19 meeting, but tabled it because Mayor Mike Hicks was unable to attend the meeting.
The proposal is meant to defray costs in overtime involved when a city water worker is sent to a home after normal business hours on non-emergency calls.
“Once in a while, we have people call us wanting to do something so they can work on their plumbing, like installing a shower,” said City Manager Marianne Elfert. “We’d like to be able to recoup some of that expense.”
Elfert cited rising costs in operations as a reason for the surcharge. She emphasized the surcharge would not be added for emergency situations like water leaks, but only for those requesting their water to be shut off temporarily.
“This is strictly for people who want to work on their own plumbing,” the city manager said.
City Water Clerk Pam Keeton said the exact amount of the proposed surcharge has yet to be determined, but offered $25 as a possible amount.
“It would just be added to their water billing,” Keeton said. “It could be more than that. It could very well be less than that.”
Elfert does not want the surcharge to encourage people to try to shut the water off themselves, because not all homes have shutoff valves.
“No one is supposed to tamper with municipal utility lines,” she said. “They could damage equipment and potentially flood their own house.”
City council member Chris Young opposes the idea of a surcharge, and said he would vote no if the proposal is put to a vote.
“It’s not right to charge people to have [city workers] to come to their house,” Young said. “Our water employees work for the public, and they need to take care of the public.”
Young supports any city resident’s efforts to improve their home plumbing, saying anything that can be done to save water is a good thing.
“We’ve never charged for it before, and we’ve been in the business for a long time,” Young said.
Phil Banker 221-6542
