News

By Rich Pollack

    Highland Beach residents soaked by high water bills as a result of large leaks could soon be getting some relief.
    During discussion of a proposed ordinance that would include changes to the town’s water-rate structure — including a minimal rate hike for all water users — commissioners appeared to support the idea of giving customers a one-time break following a major leak.
    Commissioner Lou Stern, who has pushed for the change, said big water leaks are not uncommon in Highland Beach.
“We’ve had it happen twice on our street, including to our 10-unit condominium,” he said. “It can be a lot of money.”
    At the Coronado Ocean Club, a large underground leak led to water bills covering a four-month period adding up to about $143,000 — double what it would have been normally.  
    Dennis Dowd, the vice president of the condominium association, told commissioners in a May 3 letter that the leak had been fixed, but he wondered if it would be possible to help the condo association defray at least a portion of the large cost.
    One reason why Coronado’s water bills — and those of others who have big leaks — are so high is that Highland Beach uses a tiered-rate structure, similar to that used by other towns.
    With that structure, customers with high usage pay a higher per-gallon rate.
    In most cases, an underground water leak on the customer’s property will push the rate to the higher tier.
    Resident Jerry Wolff, whose six-unit townhome community received a $4,100 bill instead of the normal $300 to $400 bill for a two-month period in 2013, said if it weren’t for the tier system, the bill would have been in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.
    Under a proposed resolution brought to the commission last month, town officials would use prior bills to estimate the amount of water lost due to a leak.
    They would then adjust the customer’s bill to reflect only the water estimated to have been used. The customer would then be billed at the lowest-tiered rate.
    The one-time adjustment, according to the proposed resolution, would be at the discretion of the town manager.
    It would require customers to demonstrate they have repaired the leak and submitted a request for the adjustment within two billing cycles of the higher bill.
    The town manager would also have the ability to allow customers who suffer from unusually high bills, including those who do not qualify for the adjustment, to make up to four quarterly payments.
    Wolff, who said his community has seen two or three smaller leaks since 2013, would like commissioners to offer customers adjustments every two or three years rather than one time only.
    “The bottom line is the town should not benefit from someone else’s hardship,” Wolff said.
    The proposal, which commissioners will vote on before finalizing the budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, follows the recommendation of a consultant and includes a rate increase for water and sewer customers of about 2.4 percent.
    For a customer using 6,000 gallons per month, the increase would be about $1.13.
    A customer using 30,000 gallons per month would see a $3.26 increase.
    If approved, the increase would mark the first time Highland Beach has hiked its water and sewer rates since 2009.