Franklin County Rural Water District 1

It is quite disappointing to hear that our customer believes we are trying to overcharge him for service. He moved into the District ten months ago as a renter. In that time his payment has been late seven times.
Each time the customer’s account becomes past due, per company policy, he is sent a past due notice which indicates a shutoff date. Every time he has failed to respond to the notice and we have followed up with a personal courtesy phone call (not required by District policy). Historically he has usually paid by phone when contacted.
In June, 2019 there was a water leak on the customer’s property. When he demonstrated that the leak had been properly repaired, the Board granted him a leak rebate (which came to $286.45) following District policy. We also waived the late charge of $64.16 on the past due payment.

In February, 2020 the customer did not make payment by February 17. The District allowed longer than normal for payment this month because the 15th fell on a weekend. A past due notice was mailed to him on February 18 reminding him that payment was past due and service could be shutoff by February 28. He did not respond. On the morning of March 3, the office attempted to call him. The call was not answered, but a message was left requesting he call the office. Also, on that morning, the Operator stopped by the house and knocked on the door. Although a dog barked inside the residence, no one came to the door. Water was locked off at that time.

On February 28, 2020, monthly statements were mailed out. The customer’s statement indicated that he owed $56.90. That was $27.15 for January usage, $10 late charge, $19.75 for February usage. Per District policy, on March 3, 2020 the customer was charged a $50 disconnect fee for the Operator to drive out to his residence to shutoff service. The reconnect fee for the Operator to drive back out to restore service is $50. These fees are not out of line with other rural water districts in Kansas.

The customer called the District office on March 3 and made payment of $56.90 but refused to pay the $100 disconnect/reconnect fee. Service remains shut off at this time.
We have correspondence on file from this customer’s landlord that we are not to allow his renters to run a past due balance. If the renter abandons the property, any outstanding bills would become his responsibility as he is the owner of the benefit unit. The landlord was informed of this situation on March 3 and completely agreed with the District’s handling of the situation.

Again, we are saddened to hear that our customer believes we are overcharging him for service. We believe that we have worked with him over the past ten months of his residency to be more than fair and helpful in providing him service, Our mission is to provide safe, high quality water services to our community, while maintaining a standard of excellence in customer service and environmental conservation.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions or observations about this situation.