Council adopts committee report on sewer-charge rule changes; ordinance held for fuller vote

Councilors discussed an ordinance to allow alternative calculations for the sewer-service (wastewater) charge where a household’s winter-use baseline no longer reflects current occupancy or installed low-flow fixtures.

Council Member Holden asked whether families who had been overcharged would be reimbursed; bureau staff and councilors said documented appeals had resulted in refunds or recalculations in some cases and that the proposed ordinance would institutionalize those options. Members pressed for consumer notification mechanisms; the floor agreed the ordinance could proceed while staff prepared a separate motion or notice language to be brought back.

Because the council lacked the 12 votes thought necessary for final adoption, members adopted the committee report and held the ordinance over for a future meeting, instructing the department to examine consumer-notification approaches for bills and outreach.