By Ava Sweeney At the recent Hampton City Council meeting, Michael Beene addressed the council regarding an issue with his water and sewer bill. Due to a computer glitch in the water and sewer departments software, he was overcharged immensely. But after going to the department he got it adjusted by almost $170 dollars for the past month.
Michael also raised concern about how the water and sewer bills are calculated. He questioned why his water bill seemed so much lower compared to his sewage bill. The water department explained that sewer charges are based on a three month average of the water that you use in the months of December, January, and February, a system called levelized billing. This method of billing is used because people typically use more water in warmer months for activities like gardening, filling up swimming pools and watering their lawn.
He suggested approaches such as calculating the average over 12 months and selecting the lowest three months or allowing residents of the city to opt out of levelized billing. The city council members stated they would have the water department look over the accounts to make sure no one else has any glitches and also contact the software company to check out the problems. However, it was noted that if levelized billing were removed, water bills could increase by 5%. The City Council will continue to review the water and sewer billing system and ensure any errors are corrected.
In other news, Tisha Beaty was sworn in as the new Chief of Police. The police department reported collecting $6,680 in fines the last month and has already issued 53 tickets in February.
