OS 1~A ABBOTSFORD Report No. ENG 70-2012 October 4,2012 File No: 5600-70

To: Mayor and Council From: Karl Filiatrault, Water Planning Engineer

COUNCIL REPORT

Executive Committee

Subject: Utility Bill Adjustment Request - 35599 Zanatta Lane

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Report No. ENG 70-2012, dated October 4, 2012, from the Water Planning Engineer, regarding a utility bill adjustment request for the property located at 35599 Zanatta Lane, be received.

BACKGROUND

Bylaw No. 2053-2011, "Consolidated WatelWorks Rates and Regulations Bylaw, 2011" requires all persons with a metered service to pay for the full amount of water registered by the meter. Pertinent clauses from the Bylaw are included in Attachment A.

The Bylaw allows for a one-time adjustment on owner occupied dwellings where proof of repair is provided. The qualification criteria for leak adjustments are included in Attachment A and the adjustment process is included in Attachment B.

Staff received a request for an adjustment to a customer's utility bill that does not meet the requirements of the Bylaw. After a review of the criteria detailed in the Bylaw, staff denied the bill adjustment request. At the request of the property owner, staff is providing information to Mayor and Council for consideration of a bill adjustment outside of the criteria set out in the Bylaw.

DISCUSSION

The property is a single family residence that was co-owned by Kuldip Rai (Father) and Amandeep Rai (Son). The property has since sold. The bi-monthly consumption is shown in the table below:

Billing Period Consumption Water Charges Sewer Charges Total Bill

July/August 2011 198.78 $356.55 $150.28 $506.83

September/October 2011 268.71 $514.58 $203.14 $717.72

November/December 2011 408.94 $462.10 $309.16 $771.26

January/February 2012 404.38 $456.95 $305.71 $762.66

March/ Apri I 2012 270.07 $305.18 $204.17 $509.35

May/June 2012 25.02 $28.78 $18.92 $47.70

July/August 2012 35.52 $40.85 $26.85 $67.70

Total $3,383.22

Report No. ENG 70-2012 Page 2 of 3

Review of the data shows that a leak began on April 17, 2011 and was repaired on March 30, 2012. Receipts for the repair were provided by the owner and the AMI system confirms the service is no longer leaking. The owner (Father) requested in writing (under Son's name), an adjustment for the leak.

To qualify for an adjustment, certain criteria as outlined in the Waterworks Rates and Regulations Bylaw must be met, including:

• That the property must be owner occupied. Tenants are less likely to notice or take action to repair leaks in a timely manner; and

• The leak must be fixed within two weeks of a leak notification being sent to the customer.

The owners were sent four leak advisory notices over a period of approximately 10 months. Our data shows the leak started on April 17, 2011, and the first letter was sent on May 11, 2011. The leak was not repaired until one year after the first notice was sent. For the final leak notification, two letters were sent. One was sent by registered mail to the owners at their Bevan Avenue address. The other was hand delivered to the property and received by a person claiming to be the tenant.

The full chronology of events is detailed in Attachment C.

ANALYSIS

Mayor and Council, by resolution, may grant exemptions to the Bylaw. If an exemption from the requirements of the Bylaw is granted, there is a possibility that many other requests will need to be reviewed and also brought to Council.

Council is requested to review the options below and direct staff on how to proceed with the application.

Option 1: To deny an exemption to the terms of the Bylaw and not allow an adjustment to the account.

Option 2: Adjust 14 days; using the average daily consumption rate (0.57m 3/day) observed during the last billing period the property was owned by the Rai family, of the billing period in which the leak was repaired. The adjustment would be as follows:

February 27 - Af}.ril 30,2012 Current New Adjustment

Wate r 14 Days $305.18 $246.33 $58.85

Sewer 14 Days $204.17 $164.80 $39.37

Total $98.22

Report No. ENG 70-2012 Page 3 of 3

Option 3: Use the average daily consumption rate (O.57m 3/day) observed during the last billing period the home was owned by the Rai's to calculate an adjustment. This would be limited to a two week period, which is the time it should have taken to repair the leak after the first notification was sent. The adjustment would be as follows:

June 23 - October 24, 2011 Current New Adjustment

Water 70 Days $762.13 $282.40 $479. 73

Sewer 70 Days $509.88 $188.93 $320. 95

Total $800.68

FINANCIAL PLAN IMPLICATION

Financial implication will depend on Council's decision on this issue.

COMMUNICATION PLAN

No communications plan is required.

SUMMARY

Mayor and Council, by resolution, may grant exemptions to the Bylaw. If an exemption from the requirements of the Bylaw is granted, there is a strong possibility that many other requests will need to be reviewed. Staff do not recommend a bill adjustment for 35599 Zanatta Lane.

K~ Water Planning Engineer

Jim Gord n, P. Eng Genera Manager, Engineering & Regional Utilities

JM:lg

Attachment A - Water Rates & Regulations Bylaw Clauses

The following clauses apply to water charges:

17 Payment for Metered Service

Subject to Section 18, every person having a Metered Service shall pay for the full volume of water registered by the Meter in accordance with the rate prescribed in Schedule "C':

18 Leak Adjustment

A one time adjustment per property will be considered. Proof of repair in the form of a copy of an invoice for the cost of the repair must be provided. The adjustment will be calculated as per the procedure outlined in Schedule "C". Dwellings that are not owner occupied do not qualify for an adjustment.

19 Meter Irregularitv

The Engineer shall be notified immediately if any suspected inaccurate measure by the Meter or other irregularity in a Meter is observed by a person receiving Service. Where, upon inspection, the Engineer determines that as a result of circumstances beyond the control of the Person receiving Service, the Meter is not functioning properly resulting in higher than actual volume readings equal to or greater than 5% in favour of the City, the Person shall pay for water for the current billing period according to the Person's average consumption, or the average consumption of the Premises, as the case may be, as determined by averaging the Customer's preceding two billing periods, and the City shall repair or replace the Meter.

25 No Rebates or Refunds

No rebate, refund or credit, whatsoever of any rates or charges paid, or payable under this Bylaw, shall be made, except as expressly provided in this Bylaw.

Attachment B - Leak Adjustment Procedure

SCHEDULE "C"

Leak Adjustment

1. Where residential users meet the criteria for a leak adjustment, water consumption will be re-calculated as follows:

(a) Case 1: Where a leak was detected by the AMI reading software, and the leak was repaired within two weeks of a leak notification being sent to the customer by the City, the adjustment will be limited to the time the leak was occurring. Consumption during that period will be adjusted based on the average daily consumption immediately prior to the leak occurrence.

(b) Case 2: Where the leak could not be detected by the AMI reading software, but was detected at the time of billing, the adjustment period will be limited to the previous billing period plus two weeks. Consumption during that period will be adjusted based on the average daily consumption immediately prior to the leak occurrence.

Attachment C- Chronology of Events

Date Event

April 17, 2011 Leak begins 1st Notice - Leak Advisory notice sent to both owners at registered

May 11,2011 addresses on the tax f ile. Another 1st Notice - Leak Advisory notice sent to both owners at

October 25, 2011 registered addresses on tax file.

January 18, 2012 2nd Notice - Leak Advisory notice sent to both property owners.

3rd Notice - Leak Advisory notices sent registered mail to Kuldip and Amandeep at Kuldip's Bevan Avenue address and an additional one was

February 27,2012 hand delivered by staff to the tenant at the property in question.

Kuldip comes to Engineering, talks to staff and advises he will bring in April 2, 2012 receipts of repair.

Kuldip brings in application for leak adjustment and receipts of repair in May 28,2012 son, Amandeep's name.

Email sent to Kuldip (preferred method of correspondence as requested by Mr. Rai) asking for proof of occupancy such as a drivers license and/or

May 28,2012 utility bills.

Kuldip called to say Amandeep lived on the property and would bring in June 18, 2012 ID and Utility bills as proof of occupancy.

Kuldip came to Engineering asking about status of leak adjustment. Is told that an email was sent asking for additional information. Owner

July 5,2012 said he would bring in the inform ation a.s.a. p. Kuldip came into Engineering and asked about status of adjustment. Was

September 21, told that no proof of occupancy was given. He asked if he could use a 2012 bank statement as proof of occupancy, staff advised it must be utility bill.

Both Kuldip and Amandeep came into Engineering. Staff took copies of driver's license and bank statement provided for review. Driver's license

September 24, issue date was August 3, 2011 showing address at time was on Lantern 2012 Avenue. Address changed to Zanatta at tax time (July 2012).

Staff called Kuldip and informed him that he had not proven occupancy and that the request was denied. Kuldip had informed staff at that time

September 25, that no one was living on the property anymore as it was in the process 2012 of selling.