Lismore council accused of ‘profiteering’ from resident’s misfortune by not refunding water bill

Lismore councillors were asked to reimburse a resident who received a $2000 bill, incurred because of a concealed water leak.

One councillor said the council did not need to charge a resident for water lost in a water leak as it was not a cost to council. Photo Cathy Adams / The Northern Star

A Lismore resident will be left about $1300 out of pocket after the council rejected a request to reimburse him an part of an excessive bill, caused by a water leak.

Councillor Adam Guise asked councillors at the Lismore City Council general meeting to reimburse the Hillcrest Ave resident $2000 of a $2500 bill he incurred because of the undetected water leak.

Cr Guise said the charge was unfair as the prior owner and the council knew about the leak, but it was not disclosed to the new owner.

He said the owner fixed the leak as soon as he was made aware of it, but had incurred the $2500 bill by the time he was alerted to the issue.

Cr Guise said the bill was unfair, and the council did not need to pass the bill on to the resident as it was not a cost the council carried.

He said the councillors’ decision not to reimburse the money paid was “profiteering from someone else’s misfortune”.

Councillor Darlene Cook however said repaying the amount in full went against the new Concealed Water Leak Policy the council agreed to in December.

She said the new policy was designed to help people who found themselves in this situation, and while she sympathised with the resident, she felt making a different arrangement with one customer was not the right decision as it made the policy irrelevant.

Council staff said the new policy was more generous than the current Undetected Water Leak Policy, but would reimburse the resident only 50 per cent of the excess water charge (above normal water use), which was up to $700 in this case.

When asked if the man should be reimbursed on social media, the overwhelming majority thought he should be.

Councillors, with the exception of Crs Guise, Lloyd and Casson, later voted to put the new Concealed Water Leaks Policy on public Exhibition for 28 days.

Cr Guise said he felt the policy did not do enough to reimburse people who received excessive water bills that were not their fault.