Council weighs changes to sanitary‑sewer credit policy after several high bills; staff to examine ACH protections

Two Rivers city staff reviewed the city’s sanitary sewer credit policy March 30 after a string of high‑bill complaints that prompted council members to ask whether the policy should be more forgiving for residents facing unexpected plumbing failures.

Director Heckel framed the review as a values question for the council: the aim is to respond fairly to residents with leaks while maintaining the financial stability of the utility fund. He emphasized that the Public Service Commission restricts credits on metered water charges, so any local relief must come from the sanitation (wastewater) side of billing.

Staff reported four significant requests from late 2025 and early 2026 that together total just under $7,000 — roughly $2,800 in water charges and about $4,100 in sewer charges — including two leaking‑toilet cases and two vacant properties with burst pipes. Director Heckel noted, "The goal tonight is to make sure this policy is reflecting your values," and provided a comparison of other municipalities: several nearby towns offer no credits while others provide partial relief (examples cited included Mishicot, Village of Howard, Green Bay and De Pere with varying formulas).

Councilor Shannon Derby described constituent urgency: one resident received auto withdrawals that overwhelmed a personal account and "that might have been his whole paycheck," arguing the city should explore practical protections for customers on ACH (automatic payment) plans. Staff and members discussed options including caps on recoverable increases (for instance, capping an increase at 100% over a typical bill), one‑time forgiveness limits, limits to one incident per 12 months, and payment plans. Matt, a staff member, said the utilities office had handled a small number of similar requests historically: "I had four minor requests," he said, describing the recent uptick.

Councilors generally favored retaining the current sewer credit rule while directing staff to pursue operational fixes: improve ACH notification timing/flags, consider bill language clarifying credit rules, and check with the city’s billing vendor/IT about automated flags that could pause or alert before ACH withdrawals. Staff will return with options and recommended implementation steps; no policy change was adopted at the work session.