Claims charging sewer on water usage is illegal; town responds to attorney general claiming normal practice
Flomaton resident Doyle 'Butch' Lee filed a complaint with the Alabama attorney generals office claiming the practice of the town of Flomaton charging sewer rates based on water consumption is illegal and the town filed a response saying it's a practice most municipalities use, noting metering sewer is not cost effective or accurate.
In his letter to the attorney general's office Lee said “I have been charged for years for every gallon of water used from the water system back into the sewer system.”
“Issues which include washing of vehicles, house and watering of lawn is still charged for the same rate of water usage in violation of state law,” Lee's complaint reads. “I hereby request that the attorney general, as the protector of the state and the citizens of Alabama, to determine if this violation has occurred and remedy any violation by virtue of credit on the bill and prevent the town of Flomaton to continue this practice.”
The town of Flomaton received a letter from the attorney general's office dated Sept. 4 with a copy of Lee's complaint and stated the town had 15 days to reply.
In its reply, the town sent a copy of an ordinance approved by the town council on Nov. 28, 1994 that states “Sewer rates will be based on the user's water consumption.” The ordinance then set rates for sewer based on water consumption.
The town also sent a copy of an ordinance passed by the council dated Dec. 10, 2018, which also sets sewer rates based on water consumption.
“The town of Flomaton bills for water and sewer in the same manner as virtually all other municipalities in this state and the country,” Mayor Dewey Bondurant, Jr., wrote in the town's response to the attorney general. “Water and sewer are billed upon rates set forth by the town council.”
“Water usage is measured by a water meter installed adjacent to each residence or business,” Bondurant continued. “Water coming into your house is measured with a water meter since the water is pressurized, but wastewater flows out of your house by gravity. Sanitary sewer services are charged based on the amount of water used as determined by the water meter readings.”
“We don't measure sanitary sewer usage as sewer meters are costly and prone to malfunctions and inaccurate readings,” Bondurant continued.
Bondurant did note that the town offers residents and businesses an option by installing a second water meter for water used exclusively for outdoor use separate from water entering the house.
“In the complaint filed by Doyle B. Lee it asks the question, “Have you contacted the business (the town) regarding the complaint,” Bondurant wrote. “He answered 'Yes'. Doyle B. Lee resigned from the town council in 2015 and we can find no complaints filed by him with respect to this issue either while he was on the town council or since he resigned. Furthermore, this complaint was filed two weeks after his sister-in-law was terminated (on Aug. 21, 1019) from employment by the town of Flomaton.”
