MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA, Ala. — Some residents in Madison County received a notice that their water bills are no longer being serviced from Huntsville Utilities and instead from the Madison County Water Department.
And some are saying their recent water bills are higher than usual.
But Madison County Water Department says it really comes down to this transition period, where they've moved to in-house billing and services instead of using Huntsville Utilities to read their meters.
And something they want to emphasize is that the residential water rates have not changed.
If you've recently received a higher than normal water bill from their department, it's likely due to your geographic billing cycle.
Madison County Water Department recently transitioned to performing in-house billing, meter reading and customer service which is something Huntsville Utilities has been performing under contract for them until now.
County Engineer, Chuck Faulkner, shares, "[Huntsville Utilities'] last reading date was March the first. So the transition occurred between March 1st and the time that our bills went out around April the fifth."
He says Huntsville Utilities has been wonderful during this process and overall this transition was done to make things more efficient for their customers.
"Now we'll be able to track water loss or unaccounted water on a much more refined level than we've been able to do in the past," Faulkner said.
This is where the geographic billing cycle comes in.
Depending on where you land in the billing cycle, you either transitioned with a somewhat normal 30-day water bill or as much as a 57-day water bill.
The $14 base rates have stayed the same, they were just prorated during the transition.
For example, right before the transition, one resident's last Huntsville Utilities water bill only accounted for six days of water usage from February 23rd to March 1st.
That prorated base charge, also known as availability charge, was $3.22.
Then their first bill from MCWD showed, “the days covered in this bill was 57. The base charge, which has previously been under the nomenclature of availability fee or charge from Huntsville Utilities is $26.60. So if I take $14 [base charge], divide by 30 days, multiply by 57 days, it's $26.60 to the penny. So that charge has not changed at all. This just was a catch up to basically this is a two month bill in effect," Faulkner explained.
Faulkner says after this last bill, they should generally be back to a normal 30-day cycle.
They have no plans at this time of increasing the $14 base rate.
And although no rates are changing, customers are having to set up new accounts on their website.
"Having to reestablish their autopay or whatever method of payment, that's not easy for them and not comfortable, we get that we did not take that lightly," Faulkner said.
Ultimately he says they feel confident this is the best move for their customers and the water department.
"Thank you for being gracious and understanding and patient with our customer service staff," Faulkner said.