Dear Friends and Neighbors:
Relief from High Water Bills Related to Hurricane Harvey
This past Wednesday Houston City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the suspension of specific provisions of Chapter 47, City of Houston Code of Ordinances, as applied to water and wastewater utility customer accounts that incurred an unusually high utility bill as a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
After Hurricane Harvey, Houston Public Works ("HPW") identified approximately 6,362 residential water utility customer accounts that showed an increase in charges of 200% or more during or immediately following Hurricane Harvey ("Affected Residential Account") and 10 commercial or industrial wastewater utility customer accounts that registered wastewater usage in excess of their average usage during or immediately following Hurricane Harvey ("Affected Nonresidential Accounts").
The Customer Account Services section of HPW, on an interim basis, placed an administrative hold on all of these affected accounts to ensure no disconnection of service and no accrual of penalties for lack of payment. HPW, working in collaboration with the Administration and City Council, then sought to identify how this unusual increase occurred and what alternatives are available to assist these customers.
HPW determined that at least 1,882 of the Affected Residential Accounts involve service addresses for residential properties for which a claim was filed between August 25, 2017, and November 30, 2017, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA") and that some of the remaining affected residential accounts involve service addresses for residential properties for which a private insurance claim was filed after incurring damage because of the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. Furthermore, HPW recognizes that there may be other affected residential accounts involving residential properties that incurred flood damage caused by Hurricane Harvey for which a FEMA claim or private insurance claim was not filed.
HPW determined that the provisions in Chapter 47 of the City Code of Ordinances that address water and wastewater billing and provide relief to water and wastewater customers for customary problems are insufficient to address the usage anomalies experienced by the Affected Residential Accounts. Therefore, HPW recommended that City Council authorize a strategic, one-time suspension of those provisions to allow HPW to make the necessary adjustments and provide relief to the Affected Accounts and to allow HPW to issue a one-time credit for residential pool refills necessitated by Hurricane Harvey.
By passage of this ordinance, HPW was given authorization to make the following adjustments to your water and sewer bills:
(1) For Affected Residential Accounts where a FEMA claim was filed between August 25, 2017, and November 30, 2017, for damages resulting from Hurricane Harvey, the water charges for the billing cycle reflecting usage during or immediately following Hurricane Harvey shall be calculated based upon the average monthly usage over the previous 12 months. For accounts active for less than 12 months, the water charges shall be calculated based upon the average monthly usage of the active billing cycle. The sewer charge for these accounts shall also be adjusted pursuant to Section 47-135(a) of the City Code. These accounts are known to HPW and will be adjusted automatically, without the need for an application.
(2) For Affected Residential Accounts where (i) a FEMA claim was filed after November 30, 2017, for damage resulting from Hurricane Harvey, (ii) a private insurance claim was filed for damage resulting from Hurricane Harvey, or (iii) for which documentary evidence is presented to the Director to substantiate that the unusual usage was caused by flooding as a result of Hurricane Harvey, the water charges for the billing cycle reflecting usage during or immediately following Hurricane Harvey shall be adjusted in the same manner prescribe in section (1) above. The sewer charge for these accounts shall also be adjusted pursuant to Section 47-135(a) of the City Code. Residential customers requesting an adjustment under this subsection must file an application, which shall include a copy of the FEMA claim, private insurance claim, or documentary evidence, with the City not later than 90 days from January 31, 2018.
(3) For Affected Nonresidential Accounts, the wastewater charges for the billing cycle reflecting usage during or immediately following Hurricane Harvey shall be calculated based upon the average monthly usage over the previous 12 months. For accounts active for less than 12 months, the wastewater charges shall be calculated based upon the average monthly usage of the active billing cycles. These accounts are known to HPW and will be adjusted automatically, without the need for an application.
(4) For residential customers who refilled permitted swimming pools as a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, the wastewater charges associated with the water used for the refill will be credited upon application and presentation of documentary evidence that the customer refilled a permitted swimming pool due to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
In summary:
- If your October water bill is at least twice your August water bill, AND you filed a FEMA claim by November 30, 2017, for damages resulting from Hurricane Harvey, your water bill will be automatically adjusted and you will be required to pay only the average water bill over the last 12 months. This will happen automatically whether or not you have reported your high water bill to Houston Water or our city council office.
- If your October water bill is at least twice your August water bill, AND you either (i) filed a FEMA claim after November 30, 2017, for damages resulting from Hurricane Harvey, (ii) filed a private insurance claim for damage resulting from Hurricane Harvey, or (iii) have documentary evidence that substantiates that the unusual water usage was caused by flooding as a result of Hurricane Harvey, then you may receive an adjustment to your water bill. In this case, the adjustment will NOT be automatic. In order to be considered for this adjustment, you must file an application and include a copy of the FEMA claim, private insurance claim, or documentary evidence with the City not later than 90 days from January 31, 2018. If you fall into this group, the city will mail a letter with the application separate from your water bill. Please complete and return the application ASAP.
- If a residential customer refilled a swimming pool as a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, the wastewater charges associated with the water used for the refill will be credited upon application and presentation of documentary evidence that the customer refilled a permitted swimming pool. Whether or not you had a high October water bill, and whether or not you filed a FEMA claim, if you had to refill your swimming pool because of flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, you can get a credit by filing the application. We are still waiting on Houston Water to provide us a copy of the application. We will post it on our website as soon as we receive it.
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____________________________________________________________
Greg Travis
Houston City Council Member, District G
900 Bagby, 1st Floor
Houston, TX 77002
Mailing:
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, TX 77251-1562
Phone: 832-393-3007
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