Faulty meter readings affect at least 33 households in city
Glitches with water usage measures date back to 2004 for one residence
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, January 6, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
While most Yellowknife residents got Christmas cards in the mail over the holidays, some may have received a less welcome delivery.
At least 33 households received a letter stating their utility bill will be more expensive going forward as the city has been undercharging them for their monthly water usage - some for more than a decade, according to Katherine Macdonald, financial services manager at the city.
"We don't know exactly why the problem came to be, but we do know it's due to the way our system reads the water meters," Macdonald said.
She said a technological glitch is to blame for some residents being charged $3.61 for every 10 cubic metres of water they used a month when they should have been charged $3.61 for each cubic metre.
"For 2016, the charge per cubic metre is $3.61. So somebody who had used 10 cubic metres was only being charged for one cubic metre. They would have got a charge of $3.61 where it should have been $36.10," Macdonald said.
"As a result of this correction," the letter to affected residents states, "you can expect to see a significant increase in the monthly water usage charge on your utility bill."
Residents will not be charged for previously unbilled water, the letter states.
According to Macdonald, the average household in Yellowknife consumes between nine to 15 cubic metres of water per month.
The utility bill for an average residential home includes five fixed fees, plus a water consumption charge that is not fixed, said Macdonald.
The flat fees for the average home in 2016 were a $7.95 access fee, a $9.87 demand charge, a $20 solid waste fee for garbage pickup, a $12 infrastructure fee and a $10 insurance fee, she said, although those will increase slightly in 2017.
Water consumption is the only fee that will be affected for residents who received the letter from the city.
The water consumption fee will also increase to $3.75 per cubic metre in 2017, Macdonald said.
The city's public works department began analyzing water meters around the city a few months ago and discovered that some residences were outside the normal range for water usage, Macdonald said. At least one residence has been undercharged since 2004.
She said many of the affected homes were in the Borden Drive area, although not all.
The department has since been inspecting water meters at those residences in order to fix the problem.
A handful more homes beyond the first 33 need to be inspected, said Macdonald, although she wasn't sure exactly how many.
Yellowknifer spoke to some city councillors, who said they weren't aware of the issue. Council is only told about such an issue when administration informs them, said Coun. Niels Konge.
Coun. Steve Payne said he had not heard of the issue either, but that it should be fixed, adding that "everybody should be treated fairly."
Macdonald said the city plans to inspect the rest of the affected homes in the next few months.
"Obviously it's always a concern that people won't be happy," she said. "But we've identified the error and are correcting it and are moving forward."
Yellowknifer was unable to determine by press time the total amount of money the city has undercharged all affected residents since the error arose.
