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A Christchurch mum who does “four or five loads” of washing a day due to her son’s disability was sent an excess water charge bill – despite being exempt.
Christchurch City Council’s targeted rate came into effect on October 1 and applies to any household with a water meter that uses, on average, more than 700 litres a day – roughly equivalent to 100 toilet flushes.
Excess water bills have been sent out to almost 4000 Christchurch residents, but the city council is now considering increasing how much water people can use before being stung with a charge.
St Martins resident Dianna French – who lives in a household of seven – was told she “may have to pay extra” but successfully applied for a medical remission, as her 9-year-old son has autism and is incontinent, requiring him to be showered and changed several times throughout the day.
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The process to apply for a remission was not up and running initially, but as soon as the form was online, French filled it in.
On February 26 she was sent an email saying she would qualify for a $60.75 remission.
However, she then received an invoice dated February 24 telling her to pay $49.94. The letter was delivered by courier company DX Mail.
“The council strikes again,” she said.
CHRIS SKELTON/Stuff
Christchurch mum Dianna French was granted medical remission from Christchurch City Council’s higher water use charge but then received a $50 bill.
“Now we have a bill without the exemption applied. What a flaming joke.”
When French rang the council for an explanation she was told the system was experiencing a few “teething problems”.
“They have invented something without knowing how it will work,” she said.
“Now it has to be redone because of their incompetence. The stupidity is, this could have been avoided if they had waited until after February 26 (when the remission was approved).
“It’s bureaucracy gone mad.”
The council was approached for comment but was unable to respond.
People can apply for excess water supply targeted rate remission on medical grounds, if there are eight or more members in a household or if there is a leak.
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Excess water bills have been sent to almost 4000 Christchurch residents, but the city council is considering increasing how much water people can use before they have to pay the charge.
The excess water charge – which was introduced following two rounds of consultation – has been labelled unfair by some residents, as almost a quarter (25,365) of Christchurch households share a meter and cannot be charged.
Last month the council said water use had decreased by more than 10% since charges were introduced, saving millions of litres.
People will be charged a fixed rate of $1.35 for every 1000 litres they use over the 700-litre limit.
Bills will not be sent out for $25 or less, so people will have to use more than 900 litres each day over 90 days to receive a bill. Once a bill goes above $25, the person will be charged for all usage above 700 litres.
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