Charge on waterbill

[Wally412]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa I have lived in my home for around 7years and we have had standing water in our street in front of our house since we have lived here and since my parents had lived here since 1977 i have complaned about this since even when my parents lived here.I have had a lot of issues of relatives and guest not being able to visit because of the water in the street issue.I am told by the city that my street has no storm sewer and it would cost to much to put one in.now on everyones water bill on this street we are charged for storm sewer and our storm water sets in the street untill it evaporates. Is this something we all have to put up with or could we all get together and demand a refund on something we have been charged for but dont have.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa I have lived in my home for around 7years and we have had standing water in our street in front of our house since we have lived here and since my parents had lived here since 1977 i have complaned about this since even when my parents lived here.I have had a lot of issues of relatives and guest not being able to visit because of the water in the street issue.I am told by the city that my street has no storm sewer and it would cost to much to put one in.now on everyones water bill on this street we are charged for storm sewer and our storm water sets in the street untill it evaporates. Is this something we all have to put up with or could we all get together and demand a refund on something we have been charged for but dont have.

You should check your city ordinances. Property owners can be required by ordinance to pay for sewer, storm water and solid waste, even when the property itself is not occupied and even if there is no active water service at the property. The billing helps to cover city system costs.

You could organize those on your street to petition the city for installation of storm sewers if all neighbors want to pay for them - but installation of storm sewers and hook up to the houses if only for a single street can be costly and the costs will be borne by each homeowner (with total costs generally divided between homeowners based on street frontage).

I'd check with your city first to see if there is an ordinance.

 

[LdiJ]

You should check your city ordinances. Property owners can be required by ordinance to pay for sewer, storm water and solid waste, even when the property itself is not occupied and even if there is no active water service at the property. The billing helps to cover city system costs.

You could organize those on your street to petition the city for installation of storm sewers if all neighbors want to pay for them - but installation of storm sewers and hook up to the houses if only for a single street can be costly and the costs will be borne by each homeowner (with total costs generally divided between homeowners based on street frontage).

I'd check with your city first to see if there is an ordinance.

While the bolded could very well be true in some municipalities its certainly not true in mine. Here people can only be billed for services that they use and have access to. Nobody gets billed for storm sewers unless the storm sewers actually exist...and nobody gets billed for services they are not using.

 

[HighwayMan]

Is this something we all have to put up with...

Did you bother calling the authority/agency that bills you to find out what is going on?

 

[quincy]

While the bolded could very well be true in some municipalities its certainly not true in mine. Here people can only be billed for services that they use and have access to. Nobody gets billed for storm sewers unless the storm sewers actually exist...and nobody gets billed for services they are not using.

I did a random sampling of cities throughout Iowa to see how they billed for sewer, storm water and solid waste, before offering the advice I offered.

I also located a list of solutions for homeowners who have problems similar to the ones experienced by Wally (standing water) but I have misplaced the information. If I remember correctly, some solutions were using water barrels and rain gardens to prevent water run-off. If I find what I did with the information, I will post back.

But I think the first step Wally needs to take is to contact his city/township to see if there is an ordinance that allows for the billing of services like storm sewers when the storm sewers are not available for use to the particular homeowner. These ordinances appear to exist in the cities I checked.

 

[tranquility]

We can opine all we want. My personal opinion is that there is not legal issue here. I have not researched it. I don't know. But, after a while, one gets a sense of how things roll. Even though I suspect many with knowledge congregating at a place where adult beverages are served could find some rationale for how this is someone else's legal fault, I don't see it easily.

Find an attorney. There is no way to win this without having a person knowledgeable in the law spend a lot of time in research and in argument (aka: Litigation). No governmental agency would give out without a fight. None. The Man has worked out rules to the point where The Man is not hurt. Sure, the little bits on the outside are not important to the theory. Here? It depends on the argument. Is it a little bit or a big old darn dang deal?

Do you think this is something you want to litigate?

If not, send letters about your claim. When it is decided against you, pay it.

 

[HighwayMan]

The first step should be to contact the agency involved. It is >possible< that they have decided to rectify the problem and have started billing in anticipation of the start of upcoming repairs.

The OP needs to find out why he is being billed all of a sudden before pursuing this further.

 

[quincy]

The first step should be to contact the agency involved. It is >possible< that they have decided to rectify the problem and have started billing in anticipation of the start of upcoming repairs.

The OP needs to find out why he is being billed all of a sudden before pursuing this further.

Interesting. I read the original post as saying that the billing for storm sewers had been going on for years and that it was not just a recent development. Now I am curious which is correct.

I agree that contacting the city is the first step.

Here, for reading material if someone is interested, is a link to the Iowa Drainage Law Manual: http://www.iowacounties.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/drainage_law_manual_complete.pdf

If there is an ordinance that allows for billing all property owners, this ordinance should preclude a lawsuit seeking refunds. The possible recourse then would be to challenge the ordinance.

 

[HighwayMan]

Yeah, it's a bit ambiguous. I read it to mean that the charges just started.

 

[Dandy Don]

Your focus should be on attempting to have someone get the problem corrected, not in getting a refund.

Send a letter of complaint to the mayor and to your congressman. After a few weeks time, if you have gotten no helpful response, contact a local TV station/news department to ask if they will do a brief segment about this problem/situation,
and believe me, once there is publicity about a local situation, there is more pressure to get it resolved. Its especially important that something be done about this, besides it being nuisance, long-standing pools of water will attract mosquitoes which could be a factor in spreading the Zika virus and many cities are being proactive in attempting to notify residents that if at all possible, pools of water should not be allowed to collect.

 

[quincy]

... Its especially important that something be done about this, besides it being nuisance, long-standing pools of water will attract mosquitoes which could be a factor in spreading the Zika virus and many cities are being proactive in attempting to notify residents that if at all possible, pools of water should not be allowed to collect.

Although standing water does provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes, Iowa is not an area that needs to fear the Zika virus (at this point in time) - this even though a couple of Iowans have been diagnosed with the virus after visiting South America where Zika IS a problem.

Here is a link to the Iowa Department of Health with information on Zika: https://idph.iowa.gov/ehi/zika

I doubt that a road with standing water is likely to be a story that attracts much media attention unless it is an extremely slow news day in Wally's area of Iowa.

 

[TimStudiesLaw]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa I have lived in my home for around 7years and we have had standing water in our street in front of our house since we have lived here and since my parents had lived here since 1977 i have complaned about this since even when my parents lived here.I have had a lot of issues of relatives and guest not being able to visit because of the water in the street issue.I am told by the city that my street has no storm sewer and it would cost to much to put one in.now on everyones water bill on this street we are charged for storm sewer and our storm water sets in the street untill it evaporates. Is this something we all have to put up with or could we all get together and demand a refund on something we have been charged for but dont have.

Does the bill specify STORM sewer? I ask because the city I work for in Illinois charges for SANITARY sewer on the water bill, since sanitary sewer usage is based on water consumption. Our storm sewer is maintained out of the general fund, and has nothing to do with the water bill. People confuse it all the time though.

 

[quincy]

Does the bill specify STORM sewer? I ask because the city I work for in Illinois charges for SANITARY sewer on the water bill, since sanitary sewer usage is based on water consumption. Our storm sewer is maintained out of the general fund, and has nothing to do with the water bill. People confuse it all the time though.

In many cities in Utah, storm sewer and storm water fees (or "franchise" fees) go into a general fund and are used to reimburse the city for the costs of environmental clean-up and street and park maintenance (and can also be used for fire and police protection).

The fees in some Utah cities are based on a property's "impervious surfaces" (rooftops, concrete drives, etc) and some are flat fees based on type of property (residential, commercial) and size of property (e.g., under .25 acre, over .25 acre). These are not based on usage.

These sewer and storm drain fees will be charged whether the property is occupied or not.