Understanding My Bill

Water Billing_Understanding my bill

Description of Charges


Water & Sewer Fixed Charges

 

Fixed charges are set per meter size. These assist in recovering some of the costs of system maintenance, meter reading, customer service and billing. Water fixed charges apply to all water accounts and sewer fixed charges to all sewer accounts.


Water Usage Charges

Water Usage Charges are based on the amount of water used during the billing period and cover the costs of buying and delivering water.


Sewer Usage Charges

Sewer Usage Charges are based on estimated sewer flow and cover wastewater treatment and disposal costs. For most residential customers, these charges are based on the Sewer Cap (see below), or on the water usage for the month, whichever is lower. For most commercial customers and some residential customers, where there is little or no outdoor water use, these charges are based on the total amount of water consumed.


Sewer Cap

Sewer usage charges are based on metered consumption of water as determined by averaging usage during winter billing periods. This occurs during the months of November through March and in accordance with policies, rules, or regulations approved by the Board of Public Utilities. For example, if you averaged 5,000 gallons of water usage during the winter billing periods, you would get a Sewer Cap of ‘5', starting with the July meter read. Your Sewer Usage Charges are then calculated by multiplying the amount of the usage charge by your Sewer Cap. For any month that water usage is less than the cap of ‘5' (5,000 gallons), you are charged based on actual water usage. Sewer caps are changed each year in July