Anyone dealt with Springfield MO's City Water Light & Power sewer billing? I've got a client whose sewer charges are running 40% higher than their water usage would suggest. The sewer department claims they're billing based on "winter quarter average" but their math doesn't add up. Winter usage was 2,800 gallons average but they're billing sewer at 3,900 gallons monthly. Customer service just keeps saying "that's how the computer calculates it" which isn't helpful. Thoughts?
City Water Light & Power (Springfield MO) - bizarre sewer charges
Elmer, I've seen similar issues with municipal utilities that use winter averaging for sewer billing. The problem is usually in how they define "winter quarter" and whether they're including December in the previous year or current year calculation. Also check if there were any estimated reads during the winter months that might have skewed the average. Municipal billing systems often have quirks that the staff doesn't fully understand.
Derek, you might be onto something with the estimated reads. Looking back at the bills, February shows an "E" next to the reading which I missed initially. If they estimated high and used that in the winter average, it would definitely skew the calculation upward. I'll request the actual meter reading history and see if we can get the winter average recalculated. Thanks for the pointer!