City’s Watershed Management Department plans refunds to 3,490 customers totaling $7.5 million

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Atlanta’sDepartment of Watershed Management plans to refund a total of $7.5 million to3,490 customers who used irrigation meters to limit their sewage bills but werestill charged too much  from July 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2010, accordingto the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

If theCity Council approves the legislation this month, the city could mail checksfor full refunds, plus 7 percent interest, around Thanksgiving, the AJC reported.
In thefuture, Commissioner Jo Ann Macrina said the city’s Watershed ManagementDepartment— which serves more than 180,000 accounts in Atlanta and neighboringjurisdictions such as Sandy Springs — will have stricter controls, according tothe AJC story.
As partof those stricter controls, two senior Watershed Management staffers —currently Macrina and the deputy commissioner for finance administration — willhave to approve any change in billing rates before they become active. Theywill receive weekly reports showing any changes in customers’ rates.
“We putadditional checks and balances into it,” Macrina said in an exclusive interviewwith The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Residentsand businesses typically install irrigation meters to protect themselvesagainst being charged Atlanta’s sewer rates, which are about three times higherthan the water portion of the bill. But because of what city officialsdescribed as “human error,” the billing rate was misapplied.
Most ofthe affected accounts are in north Atlanta, such as Buckhead, but some arescattered throughout the city. One plastics company is owed $250,000, the AJCreports. The affected customers represent about 2 percent of all city ofAtlanta water and sewer accounts. Four out of five of the troubled accountsbelong to residential customers; the rest are commercial customers.
To readthe entire AJC story, go here.