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HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2011-06-29 snowbird policy Town of Leesburg News Release For Immediate Release Leesburg Establishes “Snowbird Policy” for Water Bills Leesburg, VA (June 29, 2011) – In April 2011, the Leesburg Town Council amended the Town Code to allow the Town Manager to establish a “Snowbird Policy” to provide relief from high usage rates for water customers who close their Leesburg homes for a significant portion of the winter. Under the new policy, Finance Department staff are authorized to work with customers who are absent from their homes for 60 or more consecutive days during the winter quarter to establish an estimate of quarterly water usage that will be used as the threshold for the high use surcharge during non-winter quarters. The intent of establishing a winter quarter is to set an accurate representation of “normal” water usage during the winter months. Upon establishment of the winter quarter, if water usage during any billing period other than the winter quarter exceeds the winter quarter consumption by 35%, all water is billed at the high usage rate. Customers who spend most of the winter months outside the area do not establish a winter quarter based on actual usage since no water is used during the time they are away. As a result, the threshold for the high use surcharge during non-winter quarters is artificially low and subsequent bills become subject to the surcharge even though usage is not higher than typical for similar size homes. Following a number of complaints, the Town Council requested that the Town’s Utility Rate Advisory Committee (URAC) consider the issue and bring a recommendation back to the Council. In February 2011, the URAC presented their findings to the Council and recommended that the Council formalize the current practice of allowing Town staff to review and adjust bills on a case-by-case basis. The Town Council agreed with the URAC recommendation. The Town Code amendment was enacted on April 26, 2011 and became effective immediately. Customers who believe that they qualify as “Snowbirds” and wish to request an adjustment to their winter quarter usage should complete and submit an application to the Town’s Finance Department. The form can be downloaded from www.leesburgva.gov/index.aspx?page=1346. Contact: Amy Wyks Assistant Director of Finance for Operations awyks@leesburgva.gov 703-737-7119 # # #