BRWA Board Approves Two Rate Policy Changes
BRWA Board Approves Two Rate Policy Changes
November 21, 2014
11/21/2014
At the November 18th board meeting for the Bedford Regional Water Authority (“Authority”), the board unanimously voted to approve two changes to how rates are implemented. These changes were a direct result of customers making their requests to the board.
“The Authority’s primary focus is to serve customers in the best way possible. Hearing from the public during the public comments period at board meetings allows the board to hear directly from customers and opens up discussion on how the Authority can improve. Sometimes it gives us the chance to better explain to customers why certain decisions are made. Other times it gives us a chance to discuss the issue and make changes that are necessary to improve our service,” said Brian Key, Executive Director of the Authority.
The first change made was the Adjustments policy. The policy originally allowed one leak adjustment for a customer every five years. The board decided to change the policy to allow three leak adjustments every six years. The calculation on how adjustments are made was also simplified, making the adjustment a flat 50% off the total bill rather than requiring a relatively complex calculation. The Adjustment policy is to help relieve customers who find themselves with an unexpectedly high bill due to a leak.
The second change was made to the Rate Information policy. This was after a tenant approached the board and asked to change the fire suppression fee of $100 a month for a building with multiple tenants. The fire suppression fee is a fixed fee that is charged for customers who are provided with unmetered water service for the sole purpose of feeding a sprinkler system in their building. Although the fire suppression fee is required for the Authority to provide the service, the board decided to equally split the fire suppression fee for tenants in a building who all feed off of one fire line. For example, instead of four users each paying $100 per month for the fire suppression, each user will pay $25.