After receiving this month's utility bill dated 12/09/10, I was puzzled by the higher than normal usage, until I noticed the reading dates of the previous month and this month. My previous meter reading was done on 10/26/10 and the next meter reading was done on 12/07/10. That covers a period of 43 days. There was no meter reading performed during the whole month of November.
The State of Florida has a very detailed set of rules in place which can be read in the following link: Florida Administrative Weekly & Florida Administrative Code Chapters 25 - 30 contain detailed rules and regulations which a municipality must follow in their day-to-day operations of their water and waste water utilities department. In other words, THIS IS THEIR "UTILITY OPERATIONS BIBLE". For example:
25-30.261 Meter Readings.
(1) The utility shall read its service meters at regular intervals and, insofar as practicable within regularly scheduled work days, on the corresponding day of each meter reading period.
(2) The utility shall read the register of each meter in the same units that the utility uses for billing purposes, except that a water meter may register in gallons or in cubic feet.
(3) The service meters shall be marked to indicate the units measured by that meter.
(4) The meter shall be marked with any constant or multiplier that the utility uses to determine the amount of service used by a customer.Specific Authority 350.127(2), 367.121 FS. Law Implemented 367.111, 367.121 FS. History–Amended 9-12-74, Formerly 25-10.95, 25-10.095, Amended 11-10-86
The city is clearly in violation of the above quoted Chapter 25-30.261 (1)
By not reading the meter at regular intervals, it will greatly fluctuate the usage per billing cycle. This December, 2010 bill covers a period of 43 days, or 6 weeks. That is equal to 1 1/2 months usage, instead of 4 weeks or 1 month's usage. By extending the meter reading over a longer period of time, it dramatically increases the usage for that month, and will bump many users into the higher "Rate per 1,000 Gallons Block". For example, if a customer has an average usage of 4000 - 5000 gallons per month, it will bump this customer into the Block 2 usage with the extra gallons over 6,000, which is billed at $5.23 per 1,000 gallons, instead of the Block 1 usage rate of $2.62 per 1,000 gallons. If this occurs several times per year, it will dramatically increase the revenue for the city, especially from the water and sewer customers. For the county residents using city water and sewer it is compounded even further with the extra 25% added to their bill.
The city is already over-billing with their practice of rounding off the total gallons used to the next 1,000 gallons figure. When our meter was read on 12/07/10, we saw the meter reader taking the reading on our water meter. We immediately wrote down the reading ourselves, which was 24,560. Our bill showed the meter reading at 25,000, therefore we were over-billed by 440 gallons. Sure, it will balance out next month, but, every month, the city is getting paid in advance for thousands of gallons not yet used.
Below is my actual utility bill with name, address & account number blanked out for privacy purposes.
Shortly after I lost my husband in 2003, we were billed 14 times in one calendar year. If memory serves it was 2007...maybe 2008. Anyone out there remember the time frame? Texas
ReplyDeleteWe get 1 for 50 and the next month it goes to 99 and this has happened every other month! I spoke to them about it and they said it had to do with readings and 1,000 gallons cut off. This is a bunch of junk. I have never dealt with such going on as we have since this summer when things changed! What does it take to get things running as they should!
ReplyDeleteMt Olive Shores Resident