City tightens water surcharge rules

The Olney City Council modified rules at its Aug. 8 meeting governing how local RV parks and hotels will pay for access to city water, allowing owners of those establishments to pay the new water surcharge only for occupied rooms and RV slips.

The new ordinance allows the owners of local hotels, bed and breakfast establishments, RV parks and other forms of “transient” lodging to self-report their occupancy so that the city can calculate their monthly water bills.

“You don’t have to pay the surcharge for dwelling units not occupied during a given month,” Assistant City Attorney Dan Branum said. “Any occupancy during the month means they have to pay the surcharge for that unit or slip. Property owners have to report by the 20th of the month how many units are occupied or unoccupied during that time.”

Councilmember Harrison Wellman asked if the ordinance meant “we [are] going to run a business off the honor system?”

“I love the honor system but … if we are going to propose it, how are we going to manage it?” he asked.

Interim City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon said the city did not have the personnel or resources to police the property owners. “There is no way for us to verify it,” she said.

Mr. Branum said the ordinance included “a pretty big penalty” for scofflaws. “If you are caught cheating, you are subject to … a $500 fine per unit … and you can’t qualify for this program for a year,” he said.

“So for a place that had 40 units – that’s a pretty big penalty.”

The Council in June approved a fourth-tier $35 per month water surcharge that goes into effect in November to fund the new water treatment plant but has amended the surcharge ordinance twice to accommodate RV park and hotel owners who said a “per slip” or “per door” surcharge - rather than an occupancy-based charge – will drive them out of business.