Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Vince Fedoroff

WATER BILL CHALLENGED – In the absence of a water meter, the city charged the owners of the condos in Whistle Bend a flat rate.

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Photo by Whitehorse Star

Karin Keeley-Eriksson and Sonny Gray

Condo corporation looks for water bill refund

A local condominium corporation is calling on the city to refund more than $18,000 in fees it paid to the city for water.

By Stephanie Waddell on February 8, 2017

A local condominium corporation is calling on the city to refund more than $18,000 in fees it paid to the city for water.

Karin Keeley-Eriksson, president of Condo Corp. 221, told city council Monday night that the water meter for the condo property in Whistle Bend was broken for several months.

The malfunction goes back prior to the formation of the condo corporation when developer Evergreen Homes was still building many of the homes on the site.

In the absence of a water meter, the city charged property owners a flat rate while Evergreen first attempted to get the water meter repaired and eventually decided to replace the unit.

After going back to the metered system, it was learned just how much water was being used.

The amount the condo corporation is charged from the metered system is less than the flat rate charged. That represents considerably less water use, Keeley-Eriksson argued.

Thus, the city should instead use an estimate for the period it was charged the flat rate per unit by averaging the metered use over three months, she told council.

The difference between what the condo corporation paid and the three-month average would have been more than $18,000.

“It doesn’t seem fair” for the city to benefit from the condo corporation’s misfortune of having a broken water meter, Keeley-Eriksson said.

Gray Management Services (which handles property management for the site) had initially gone to city staff for the refund on the condo corporation’s behalf. However, it was denied, leaving the group appealing to council.

Also on hand at Monday’s council meeting was Sonny Gray, who owns Gray Management Services.

In the gallery, following a question from Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu, Gray told council the city has provided for such refunds in the past.

Keeley-Eriksson also emphasized that the condo corporation is not asking the city to cover the cost of replacing the water meter.

Rather, it’s looking for a refund on the overpayment for the water bills now that it’s clear how much water is actually being used.

Following the meeting, Mayor Dan Curtis said such matters are normally handled by administration.

City manager Christine Smith said staff will again review the issue.

That examination will include the paper work submitted by Keeley-Eriksson detailing the correspondence between city staff and Gray Management Services on the matter, and get back to the condo corporation with a response.

Smith pointed out that while there is an appeal process to deal with challenges over billing outlined in city bylaws, the appeal is not dealt with at the council level.

Comments (8)

Up 6 Down 0

Resident on Feb 9, 2017 at 1:52 pm

Commercial properties, including condo corps I believe, are charged via water meter rather than flat rate. There's been talk of switching entirely to water meters but it never gets much traction.

Up 12 Down 1

Wayne on Feb 9, 2017 at 7:25 am

Are water metres common in the city? I'm certain that if I had one, I would pay less than the flat rate I pay now. Do all condos and large buildings have one? Doesn't every condo owner in a complex pay the flat rate?

Up 17 Down 2

Mick Jones on Feb 9, 2017 at 7:19 am

"In the absence of a water meter, the city charged property owners a flat rate while Evergreen first attempted to get the water meter repaired and eventually decided to replace the unit"
It reads like Evergeen dropped the ball on this.

Up 17 Down 7

Paul on Feb 9, 2017 at 12:12 am

Why is Condo Corp. 221 being unfairly subsidized for their water costs to the tune of $72,000.00 per year (according to their supplied figures). The rest of us residential homeowners in Whitehorse have to pay a flat rate for water and sewer services. Shouldn't we all be paying the same flat rate per residence regardless of usage? Maybe the City can start reading the water meters that we were forced to install and pay for when we built our homes; and then bill all users for actual water usage.
Seemingly we would all save some money; but the cost per 1000 litres would never cover the actual cost of delivering this essential service… which is why most of us pay flat rate and so should Condo Corp. 221.

Up 6 Down 1

Who's on first? on Feb 8, 2017 at 7:52 pm

The fees go back prior to the formation of the Development Corp? I understand the Condo Corp 221 existed in Evergreen's name and they had a contract with Gray Management to facilitate and manage the business. So if this goes back prior to the new board taking over from Evergreen - why wasn't this dealt with then? Seems like a lot of businesses getting paid at the cost of the residents! As for the comments provided by Christine Smith, there is a process for appeals. Just like there is a process when a new board takes over from the developer i.e. making sure the corporation is in good standing.

Up 30 Down 8

Mick Foley on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:28 pm

The condo corp is likely owed more money than the $18K given that the development was not fully occupied most of the time COW was 'estimating' usage.

Up 38 Down 11

Adam Smith on Feb 8, 2017 at 4:13 pm

Take the COW to Small Claims for the $18,000 and costs. Make them accountable to judge rather than 'City manager Christine Smith said staff will again review the issue'.
How petty.

Up 13 Down 42

Wilbur on Feb 8, 2017 at 3:53 pm

No refunds. A card laid is a card played. They were happy to have water at the flat rate price. If there's any overage it goes into a contingency fund.

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