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rvukanovich
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 08:59 pm |
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April 24th meeting #26 District Citywide
Consideration and action on directing and authorizing the City Manager and City Attorney to negotiate and secure a settlement agreement with Arizona American Water in the best interests of the City of Surprise.
Surprise, AZ News
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Businescares
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Posted: Mon May 5th, 2008 11:23 am |
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Do you want some best and intresting softwares. Then click this link and have a result oriented softwares.
http://www.daycaresurvey.com
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rvukanovich
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Posted: Sat Apr 19th, 2008 10:41 pm |
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My response from the City about Arizona American waters rates to their customers, they do not know.
They have a different rate schedule than the City of Surprise;, as do the other 10 water providers within the City of Surprise. The Arizona Corporation Commission approves their rates.
Arizona American is checking to see if they are billing their HOA’s commercial rates for water used in the green areas.
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rvukanovich
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Posted: Sun Apr 13th, 2008 05:28 pm |
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There is more to this then we've been told.
Surprise, AZ News
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rvukanovich
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Posted: Mon Apr 7th, 2008 10:23 pm |
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Excerpts from Matt’s Article
The controversy dates back to summer 2007, when Surprise city officials discovered American Water Co. was charging the wrong rate on 170 water accounts belonging to 15 homeowner associations from mid-2003 to mid-2006. It was charging a lower residential rate instead of the commercial rate that applies to associations by Surprise city code.
According to city documentation, affected subdivisions are Ashton Ranch, Countryside, Desert Oasis, Kenly Farms, Marley Park, Mountain Vista Ranch, Mountain Gate, Rancho Gabriela, Roseview, Royal Ranch, Sanalina, Sierra Verde, The Orchards and Veramonte.
xxxxxxx
This took care of the billing for the City of Surprise’s Water Company where it appears the residents got a break.
How much was Arizona American Water Company HOA customer’s charged during this time frame? The question is, if we were billed correctly does that mean that we are getting the short end of the stick.
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Surprise News Editor
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Posted: Mon Apr 7th, 2008 09:06 pm |
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By Matt Loeschman
Independent Newspapers
The Surprise City Council has assured no homeowners associations will pay a dime for American Water Co. backbilling.
In a move that shocked some community members, council voted 4-2 to halt the backbilling attempts that stemmed from errors dating back to 2003.
“To be honest, I was very surprised,” said Orchards HOA President John Ingianni, a harsh critic of the proposed backbilling. “I was astonished that the council basically decided to write it off as an error. But we are very glad it turned out this way. We are now ready to move on.”
Council placed the item on the agenda following a flood of complaints from residents and HOA leaders. District 1 Councilman John Longabaugh, District 2 Councilman Richard Alton, District 3 Councilman John Williams and District 5 Councilman Joe Johnson voted in favor while Mayor Lyn Truitt and Vice Mayor Roy Villanueva voted against the dismissal. District 6 Councilwoman Gwyn Foro was absent from the meeting, her last on the council before Skip Hall takes the District 6 seat.
According to city documentation, affected subdivisions are Ashton Ranch, Countryside, Desert Oasis, Kenly Farms, Marley Park, Mountain Vista Ranch, Mountain Gate, Rancho Gabriela, Roseview, Royal Ranch, Sanalina, Sierra Verde, The Orchards and Veramonte.
American Water Co. serves about 14,000 water customers in Surprise. The company provides billing and maintenance services to those customers for the city who in turn provides the water to residents.
The controversy dates back to summer 2007, when Surprise city officials discovered American Water Co. was charging the wrong rate on 170 water accounts belonging to 15 homeowner associations from mid-2003 to mid-2006. It was charging a lower residential rate instead of the commercial rate that applies to associations by Surprise city code.
The error cost the city nearly $800,000 in revenue and since then, officials have been working to find some solution. One suggestion had local HOAs paying back about half of the $774,000 over a one-year period, but that was met with resistance from HOA leaders who indicated they would sue the city if required to pay the back billing.
“It could have gotten very ugly,” Mr. Ingianni noted. “Many of the people living in our community were not even here when this all took place.”
Mr. Williams spoke out before the council vote, pledging to support all residents affected. During the meeting, he made the motion to stop the backbilling.
“I just felt the need to support these communities,” the councilman explained.
Mr. Ingianni credited Mr. Williams with spearheading the effort to save HOAs’ funding.
“John was absolutely instrumental in this,” Mr. Ingianni said. “I was pleased that someone relatively new to the council could do that. He really jumped into the fire and helped us out.”
The councilman shared credit with Surprise residents.
“They outlined a lot of the concerns I didn’t during my comments,” Mr. Williams said. “These HOAs may not be part of our city government, but they are part of our city. They were wronged and it’s not their fault at the end of the day. Something had to be done to make it right.”
Mountain Vista Ranch HOA President Wayne Tuttle said he was pleased with the vote; however, his HOA is owed more than $20,000 it already paid the city.
“As long as we get our money back, I’m fine,” Mr. Tuttle said. “And I want to see something change with the tiered billing process. I guess I am sort of ‘half happy’ right now.”
Mr. Williams was the only council member living in a subdivision affected by the error. If the HOAs had been required to pay, residents could have faced higher HOA fees or special assessments in their communities. Some HOA leaders talked about filing a lawsuit before council wiped out the possible backbilling.
The mayor and vice mayor indicated they sympathized with the HOAs, but did not want to take further action until more negitiations took place.
As of March 31, nine HOAs still owed balances totaling more than $240,000, according to city documentation.
Mr. Williams indicated associations who submitted payments will be reimbursed but how the money will be refunded is yet to be determined.
“Some HOAs are better off financially than others,” the councilman noted. “We’ve got to get their money back to them.”
The city is also determining how to make up the $800,000 it lost, according to Mr. Williams. Surprise officials reported American Water made an offer, but it was not accepted.
HOA leaders are also concerned the current tiered billing structure is unfair to them. City leaders are studying the issue and should present a report next month.
“The bottom line is there needs to be a flat rate,” Mr. Tuttle said.
A week after the decision, Mr. Ingianni was still in shock the backbilling issue was solved.
“A city official told me we did not have to pay,” he said. “It really took me by surprise.”
Post your opinions in the Public Issues forums at http://www.newszap.com. News Editor Matt Loeschman can be reached at 623-445-2871 or mloeschman@newszap.com.
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