Water Billing & Collections Policy Public Consultation Brantford Public Library - Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Time: 6 7:45 pm

Transcription

1 Water Billing & Collections Policy Public Consultation Brantford Public Library - Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Time: 6 7:45 pm Purpose of the meeting: A new Water / Wastewater Billing and Collection Policy has been proposed for the City of Brantford and City staff held the second of two Public Consultations tonight to seek public input for the further development of the policy to ensure the public has an opportunity to provide their input on this important matter. This is the second meeting. The first meeting was held Wednesday, January 13, 1016 at the Brantford Civic Centre from 6 8 pm. Attendance: Approximately 15 people were in attendance which included 3 staff and 3 Councillors. (Councillor Antoski, Councillor Neumann and Councillor VanTilborg). 5 of the 15 were new; 10 were in attendance for both public meetings. All public attendees indicated they were Landlords. No tenants were reflected on the sign-in list. Presentation: Patrick Telfer, Manager of Revenue/Tax did a brief overview of purpose of the meeting with report going back to Council for review in March. Patrick Telfer then introduced presenter Daniela DiFrancesco, Manager of Customer Services Utilities. A power point presentation was done by Daniela DiFrancesco, which will be made available on the website after the second Public Consultation. See website for January 13 th, 2016 meeting notes. 1

2 Highlights reflected reason for policy: - to be fair to all landlords by applying a consistent solution to tenant arrears - Ontario Municipal Act in effect for years; City has historically implemented as a last resort to place tenant arrears on tax roll in the event of lack of cooperation from landlord &/or tenant - Clarification on problem experienced with shared services (More than 1 meter; all water must be shut-off; sometimes at curb-stop is the only resort). We do not want to shut the water off to the property when other tenants are involved. - Many Municipalities already have this proposed policy in place. Toronto, Cambridge, Brant County, London and Hamilton are a few that automatically place arrears on Tax Roll. Brockville and Niagara opted out of the policy. - See full power point presentation on website. - Daniela highlighted that some points from the last Public Consultation that were proposed: i) general consensus was that that the landlords would work with the City to gain access to premises to shut-off service to meter. ii) new 2 part form to be completed before new tenant takes possession if responsible to pay for water. The tenant information and signature was requested on the original form so that the Privacy Act would not be violated. Summary of the Points voiced at meeting by Landlords: 1. Who pays for the fee the collection agency charges on accounts submitted? Response: Once an account is placed for collection; any recovery will be reimbursed to landlords tax roll for the property. A question was raised about the collection agency fees and who loses the 35% when the account is collected. Response: Daniela clarified that the Municipality does not have a fee from the Collection agency that cost is charged directly to the customer by the Collection agency. Therefore, recovery of any funds will be placed back on the tax roll to reduce previous charges. 2

3 2. A suggestion was made to go back to Monthly Billing. Tenant can get too far behind if gets a 2 month bill and doesn t pay; before the landlord may be notified it could be 3 or 4 months. Response: Daniela explained that EPP (Equalized Payment Plan) is available for customers to set up a monthly amount to help budget on a monthly basis. 3. How much was the total write-off last year? Response: Daniela advised $80,000 in bad debts last year of which the majority was for tenants. 4. What were the Water sales last year? Response: 20 million dollars (Additional information Wastewater sales for 2014 were an additional 15 million) 5. What is the charge to reconnect the service after disconnection: Response: $70.00 which is billed to the tenant. 6. Is this policy for just shared rental dwellings or single properties as well? Response: The policy applies to both shared and single dwelling rental properties. 7. A landlord sited an example of a few years ago that he received an $1100 bill. His daughter was the tenant; no over usage of water; unexplained loss like a tub was running 24 hours. He could not find a leak. Called Customer Service but given no choice but to pay the bill or the water would be shut-off. If this happened with all tenants, the landlord suggested a lot of rental properties would go up for sale. 8. Another example was sited that as a secondary business, the landlord runs a Cleaning business. One of his customers had a frozen water line and the water had to be run for 30 days straight. Who pays cost? Response: Daniela advised that if running the water prevents freezing of the main then the City will pay the cost. In most cases, the cause is due to issues inside the house and then the property owner / tenant pay the cost. 9. It was clarified by Councillor Newmann that the Water Department is a selfsustaining Department and the Tax Department does not benefit from the rates charged by Water. Any extra money available to the Water Department is for infrastructure; new pipes; sewers and wastewater including buildings. 3

4 10. What is the shut-off process? Can the City take the meter out? Response: Daniela advised we just can t pull the meter easily as then there is no way to measure water usage; a prime example that in this case at least we were alerted to fact water being used. The Water department is researching other meters for future use. Pat Telfer clarified that we are trying to work with the Water Department for a better solution to meterseal presently in place. Daniela mentioned that there are remote meters in the marketplace that will do automatic disconnects but they are very costly (approximately 3-4 times the price of a regular meter) 11. A situation experienced where the landlord had to get police to assist with access to unit to shut water off. Once shut-off; the tenant cut wire and continued to use water (theft). Landlord felt did his part but then received bill for water usage after seal broken. Owner would like meter pulled in this type of situation. 12. A new participant stated that he is a landlord and Real Estate Agent and feels that all parties (tenants, landlord & City) must have accountability and responsibility in this matter. It is felt that the City is trying to push responsibility away. It could take 2 3 months before the landlord knows the tenant is in arrears. Once resolved the $70 reconnection fee will be absorbed by him as the landlord, as he will evict the tenant. If the policy goes through; the Municipal Act covers the Water charges, he is concerned that the Power Department will do the same. He stated that if he was running the Water Department he would do the same thing! This is an easy solution for the City. Not so good for the landlords. Response: Daniela advised that Brantford Power is under OEB regulations, and the Municipal Act does not include electricity charges. 13. It was stated that the landlords have the potential of losing 20% gross whereas, $80,000 is one staff salary for the year. 14. In the case of a Duplex or Triplex where there is only one curb stop for all apartments it was questioned why it is the landlords responsibility to pay for the additional costs that would be incurred when that was the City s original requirement set-up of the lines. It was requested to investigate what the cost would be to put another curb-stop in. Also, the landlord understands it is his cost to run the line to the house from the 4

5 property line why can t 3 manifolds be put on the line? Response: Daniela advised City regulations do not permit this. It can t easily be done in many cases, and would be very costly to the landlord. 15. Why is there a difference if tenant or single home if they are the City s customer or account holder? Response: Daniela advised in many cases the City needs the Owner s help and cooperation to gain access to property. 16. Bad debt is a cost of doing business. It was felt that the City is downloading their bad debt onto the landlords. Response: Daniela advised we are trying to minimize losses for everyone. 17. If the tenant is responsible for payment of water; then conservation is more evident. If the tenant knows the landlord is responsible to pay, experience is that the tenant is more careless with the usage of water. i.e. If the tenant pays water and had leaky toilet the Landlord would be notified in most cases to have it fixed. 18. The Brant County Landlords Association (BCLA - Jim Walsh) spoke on the fact that the Landlord Tenant Association (LTA) regulates yearly allowable rent increases. A landlord can only increase rent by the amount stipulated by the LTA. The established rate to increase existing tenants rent is 2% this year. If the unit becomes vacant then the landlord can increase more. If the water bad debts are too high, this drives the rent up significantly for the next tenant causing an affordable housing problem in the City. Response: Daniela acknowledged this concern. She asked the group if the proposed compromise may be acceptable to put in the new proposed policy.. - Continue to bill shared service - Copy owner on disconnection notice to try to get co-operation with tenant to pay - Meet owner for disconnection at a scheduled time - Continue to charge a deposit amount on new accounts as needed (based on 2.5 times the average monthly usage or 1.75 times the bi-monthly bill) -Continue to try to make payment arrangements with tenant and only disconnect as a last resort. Landlords who spoke were of the general consensus that they will be co-operative to arrange access to water meter and hot water tanks within a reasonable time to disconnect water service and that the above proposal seemed reasonable. 5

6 19. A Landlord suggested that the City make ALL tenants go on EPP. It was also suggested that the City read water for tenants on a monthly basis to make bill payment manageable. 20. Mailed communication to landlords could take too long to arrive i.e. old address, time delay with Canada Post. A suggestion was made to contact landlords by with the use of a data-base which contains landlord/owner information. A data base would help keep info current for contact with the landlords namely missing phone numbers and current addresses. 21. Councillor Antoski inquired about the small percentage tenants this relates to; why is there no process in place in the form of a data-base to reach landlords? (containing current addresses and phone numbers) This appears to be an internal problem, not a landlord issue. Response: Pat Telfer indicated that before the separation from Brantford Power, the Water was on the same bill. If the Power was shut-off; negotiation was made to have payment for the full bill. No data base was in place previously. This problem with the increase in water debt has increased since the separation of the companies. Daniela added that changes to the Ontario Energy Board regulations would have caused this increase even if on a combined bill. 22. Councillor Newmann spoke on the tone from the last meeting for those who were not in attendance. The plan was to work together to come to a reasonable revised policy that would work for all parties. 23. Clarification was requested by Councillor Van Tilborg whether the $80,000 bad debt was for tenant arrears? Response: Yes. It was confirmed by Pat Telfer that the majority of the $80,000 debt for water last year was for tenant premises. Any other uncollectible water debt was automatically rolled over to Residential home owners who did not pay their bills. 24. Daniela stated that some Residential homeowners have commented on the new policy and feel Landlords should share responsibility for their tenant s debt. Homeowners have no means to make residual income from their homes and are responsible through payment or automatic tax roll to pay their debts.. Landlords have an opportunity to make income on the property as they run a business in doing so. 25. A question was raised. Are Commercial property landlords included in this new policy? 6

7 Response: Daniela advised yes, this policy is for both types of rental properties. 26. Discussion ensued with landlords some key points suggested are as follows: Daniela explained that the water is read every 2nd month. There is a process in place already to send bill out with a due date for 16 days; a Delinquent friendly reminder is sent 7days after the bill due date passes; at 17 days after the due date a Disconnection Notice is mailed and 10 days thereafter a Disconnection Notice in the form of a 48 hour tag is hand delivered to the residence to start the process for actual disconnection if payment has not been made by then. The Municipal Act has always been in place allowing the City to roll any water arrears over to the tax roll. (Residential or Landlord). Only as a last resort has the City actually proceeded with the enforcement of transferring arrears onto the landlords Tax roll. The City is trying to establish a fair Policy to work within the Act, and be fair to the landlords and other residents of Brantford. -proposed Landlord / Tenant joint form could be changed to take off the line to say owner s responsible for tenants water bill if not paid. It was felt, that even if Ontario Municipal Act by-law is in place; the tenant has no incentive to pay their bill if they know the landlord will ultimately be responsible. Conservation would be compromised. -tenants have difficulty budgeting they only have so much money. -tenants are becoming more aware through their networking that they don t have to pay and the debt will become the landlords problem. -one landlord commented that there is a different clientele in Brantford than other municipalities -the landlord can no longer shut water off once the City starts billing the landlord in place of the tenant. -owner/landlord needs to provide City with a form with contact information and rental property addresses. (Daniela explained: The landlord knows best when a new Tenant is moving in; don t give keys until account set up with Water and confirm that City is satisfied that an appropriate security deposit is made if one is deemed necessary. Many times, the City finds out several months later that there is a new tenant only when we send notice for disconnection for non-payment. It is too late then to request a security deposit.) 7

8 -owner will allow City access to the water meter in a reasonable time to allow for disconnection of services in the event of non-payment by tenant. -special arrangements will need to be made in the cases of shared services (i.e. one meter, multi units within same building where tenants pay water) further decisions need to be made on this area of policy. A suggestion was made by one landlord that there should be a by-law that if multi-unit then each should have own meter. 27. A landlord indicated she has a number of rental properties and has an Automatic Transfer set up with the City. If her existing tenant moves out, and the unit is vacant, the water automatic transfers to her name in the interim. There is no fee to do this. Once a new tenant is ready to move in; the landlord calls the City to verify an account has been established and any necessary deposit is secured by the City before she gives the tenant the keys. She says this has never been a problem and a simple form to complete. Response: Daniela confirmed this Automatic Transfer works well and normally there is a fee of $30.00 to transfer but if a landlord has this process established the fee is waived. 28. A question was raised as to whether there was a document the City could give the tenant to return to the landlord to state the water account has been established under the tenant s name. Response: Daniela advised we can investigate this. 29. BCLA stated the Landlord is NOT allowed to shut the water off. Presently there is a Class Action lawsuit happening relating to unfair process under the Rights and Freedom Act. Not an easy solution. -This forum is an opportunity to work out a resolution process. He stated Kitchener, London and other similar areas are toxic. (no opportunity for input by landlords; decisions made by Councils with no flexibility.) It has taken years to build a rapport in Brantford and it could be lost very quickly. He suggested all parties need to exercise respect and logic. 30. It was stated by another landlord that this is morally wrong! It s just pulling money out of people s pocket! Who is going to provide social housing? Rents will keep increasing. Negative cash flow must increase rates for rent and the cycle continues. Tenants only have so much money. The cost of living is getting higher for groceries etc. Some tenants are going to food bank just so they can pay utility bills. Some tenants have tried to switch account name to spouses name to maintain utilities (without paying original outstanding). This doesn t solve the problem. 8

9 Nova Vita is trying to assist families reestablish themselves outside of the shelter and try to help with the initial utility costs. Ontario Works also have a program. 31. A landlord stated he had a tenant who was on OW assistance pay direct. OW pulled the money back and he had to get Sheriff involved as couldn t get key back. OW s solution to him was to take tenant to Landlord Tenant Board. It cost him $6,000. This is not the solution. 32. A question was raised as to why water will not defer payment 6 months? It appears to be the only service that won t defer. Response: Daniela advised that if deferred then there is no recourse. Brantford Power has been legislated to defer to low income customers. A different body regulates Brantford Power. We can build in an option to defer in some situations. 33. It was felt that the City should absorb the cost to move the meters and that is their responsibility to do so. Response: Daniela advised the water meter must be inside so it does not freeze unlike the Power meters which are placed on the outside the home. 34. Daniela reiterated that communication is the key and some situations are more challenging, therefore the landlord needs to be involved. -it was noted by one landlord he doesn t want to be involved! 35. Another point was made that once the tenant is registered, then waive the landlords responsibility. There should be a maximum amount that the landlord can be charged i.e. $500. If City needs help to access; just let him know as he will extend full co-operation. 36. In the case on a property on Webster (see point # 7 above), the landlord was cooperative on a shared service situation and was still charged $ Councillor Van Tilborg questioned how this happened and ask if there were any others like this? Response: Daniela advised these are 2 separate issues. The $ was due to usage of water. Our policy has been if the meter registers usage, the customer must pay. We have yet to find a residential meter that has over registered. This happened 7 years ago. More recently an account for this owner was transferred into his name. We would have notified the owner at the address the tax department had on file. We transferred water to the owner s name as a last resort when the tenant did not pay because we have no other alternative as we can t gain access to disconnect service. 9

10 This issue was later resolved when the owner got the bill. The owner then intervened and we got payment from the tenant. This is what happens when we get owner co-operation. 37. Landlord question if a letter is sent to the tenant? Money should be spent on shutoffs. Response: Daniela advised sending letter to owners is in the process. We need to ensure we have proper addresses on file. Daniela advised there is a study on Smart Metering being done this year. It will take time, money to implement, and approval by Council. Estimated cost is millions of dollars for the equipment if this is the recommendation, so it will not happen in the immediate future. 38. A question was posed on the amount of the average bad debt? Response: Daniela estimated $300 - $400 dollars. 39. BCLA questioned Could the City just put Smart meter on historically bad properties? Then automatic shut-off could happen. Response: Daniela advised, unfortunately not presently. The cost of the infrastructure and systems is too much for a small number of accounts. At 7:30 Pat Telfer called the meeting to a close and thanked all those who attended. The input will be considered, and a revised policy recommendation will go back to Council in a Report format in March for review. For those who signed up on the attendance sheet and provided an address, we will you the date when the report is going to Council. Also, the minutes from the 2 Public Consultations will be put on the City website. 10