On Oct. 21, the Social Circle City Council unanimously approved the city’s first formal policy for handling adjustments to water and sewer customers’ bills in the event of leaks resulting in unexpectedly high bills.

Under the new policy, enacted to incentivize quick attention to repair, adjustments to water bills are allowed just once in any 12-month period. The adjustment is applied to the two highest months of water usage during the period of the leak. The adjustment will be determined on the basis of the customer’s average monthly water usage for the six months prior to the leak. Usage above that average during the period of the leak will be billed at a 50% discount rate.

Leak adjustments won’t be granted if a hose or spigot is simply left running.

In applying for a leak adjustment, a water customer must fill out an adjustment form, available at City Hall or online at SCUtilities@socialcirclega.gov. Also required are documentation of the cause of the leak, and proof that it has been repaired.

With regard to sewer issues, leaks outside a customer’s home will be adjusted to a six-month average usage rate. Leaks inside a home aren’t eligible for billing adjustment, since the city must still treat the excess wastewater.

Sewer leak adjustments, for which paperwork provided through the city is required, along with other information, are applied as credits to the affected customer’s account.

Under the new policy, the city can deny leak adjustments if paperwork is deemed insufficient, or if a reported repair “is not considered legitimate.”

As a final note, the new policy states that leak adjustments “are a courtesy extended to customers and are not guaranteed.”

Capital recovery study

Also at the Oct. 21 meeting, the council approved a $30,000 outlay from the city’s water funds for a study of its current capital recovery fee structure. According to documentation provided to the council, capital recovery fees are charged to developers, builders, residents and business owners for every new connection to the municipal water and sewer systems.

However, the documentation notes, those rates haven’t been evaluated for nearly a decade, and factors such as increased development, higher expenses, inflation and demands on the water and sewer systems, point to a need to determine what should be the city’s correct capital recovery rate.

Prior to the Oct. 21 vote, at the suggestion of Councilman Steve Shelton, the council added public safety to the capital recovery fee structure study.

The study will be conducted by Goodwyn Mills Cawood, an engineering firm with offices across the Southeast.